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Trusting Jesus
This collection of some of Elder Holland's most memorable and powerful talks will inspire us to keep our focus and our faith on the one source of strength that will never fail us: Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Included in this collection are such classic addresses as "The Other Prodigal," "He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things," "Come unto Me," "An High Priest of Good Things to Come," "A Handful of Meal and a Little Oil," "As Doves to Our Windows," and many others.
The messages gathered here will help us to remember His promises in all our days of trial and challenge. When our souls are spiritually depleted, we can trust that the Lord will provide us with the bread of life and the living waters. When we struggle to fulfill our callings, we can trust that He will sustain and support our efforts. When our lives are hectic and overwhelming, we can trust that the Lord will bless us with peace.
The messages gathered here will help us to remember His promises in all our days of trial and challenge. When our souls are spiritually depleted, we can trust that the Lord will provide us with the bread of life and the living waters. When we struggle to fulfill our callings, we can trust that He will sustain and support our efforts. When our lives are hectic and overwhelming, we can trust that the Lord will bless us with peace.
188 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2003
60 people are currently reading
1081 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey R. Holland
44 books332 followersElder Jeffrey R. Holland was ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 23 June 1994. At the time of this call, Elder Holland was serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, to which he had been called on 1 April 1989. A native of St. George, Utah, he has spent most of his professional life in Church education. He received his bachelor and master degrees from Brigham Young University and a master degree and Ph.D. from Yale University.
From 1980 until his call as a General Authority in 1989, Elder Holland served as president of Brigham Young University. He is a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU.
Elder Holland is the author of several books, one of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia. They were married in 1963 and are the parents of three children and the grandparents of 12 grandchildren.
From 1980 until his call as a General Authority in 1989, Elder Holland served as president of Brigham Young University. He is a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU.
Elder Holland is the author of several books, one of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia. They were married in 1963 and are the parents of three children and the grandparents of 12 grandchildren.
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March 14, 2015
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Elder Holland has a marvelous way with words. I can hear his distinctive voice in every chapter. More importantly, I can hear the voice of the Savior on each page calling me to trust in Him. I will read this book many times.
Elder Holland has a marvelous way with words. I can hear his distinctive voice in every chapter. More importantly, I can hear the voice of the Savior on each page calling me to trust in Him. I will read this book many times.
November 12, 2007
Elder Holland reminds us that though life is hard the Lord will not leave us. I read this book in the perfect time for what is going on in my life. Funny how the Lord can answer our prayers and questions through a message of book. Elder Holland dedicates this book to all who seek hope. If you fall into the catagory of daily struggling to fight the battles of life, this is a must read book for sure. Please let me know your thoughts as you take the time to read the words of Elder Holland and feel the loving arms of our Savior embrace you.
July 21, 2009
This is a compilation of a bunch of Elder Holland's past talks. I really enjoy a lot of his talks, so this was a good read. And it also includes one of my all-time favorite talks, "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence." So good.
Not all of the talks were the same level of good, but almost all were quite enjoyable.
Not all of the talks were the same level of good, but almost all were quite enjoyable.
September 12, 2008
reading this book was and is a defining moment my life. elder holland radiates the spirit in his work. i never cease to find inspiration in his words.
May 9, 2008
This is a compilation of several talks Elder Holland has given - in General Conference, and as devotionals. They are all great, some are just right for me right now. I'm motivated, uplifted, and reflective. It's a good one everyone should read.
November 14, 2007
My favorite Elder Holland book. Read at a very dark time in my life, it helped me to find meaning in the big struggles I was going through at the time.
December 28, 2015
This is a sweet and wonderful book full of inspiration and talks by Elder Holland specifically about the importance of knowing and trusting Jesus Christ. We are invited to come to Him. He knows us. He loves us. He will help us. He will heal us. We can trust Him. Hope and peace and joy and direction comes when we follow Him. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and the reminder to trust Him! Here are a few of my favorite quotes:
"Everyone meets affliction in mortality. Everyone knows some sorrow. Everyone experiences disappointments, even despair, and looks for ways to bear up and keep on going. The answer for all times and all seasons is to 'trust Jesus (p. x).'"
"My testimony is of the angels and ministers of grace who will always defend us, as the prophet Alma commanded us, we 'take care of...sacred things,' we 'look to God and live' (Alma 37:47). More prayer and humility, more faith and forgiveness, more repentance and revelation and reinforcement from heaven--these are where we seek remedy and deliverance (p. 4)."
"During the Savior's Galilean ministry, He chided those who had heard of Him feeding the 5,000 with only five barley loaves and two fishes and now flocked to Him expecting a free lunch. That food, important as it was, was incidental to the real nourishment He was trying to give them (p. 11)."
"Everything in the gospel teaches us that we can change if we need to, that we can be helped if we truly want it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past (p. 14)."
"We could remember that even with such a solemn mission given to Him, the Savior found delight in living; He enjoyed people and told His disciples to be of good cheer. He said we should be as thrilled with the gospel as one who had found a great treasure, a veritable pearl of great price, right on our own doorstep. We could remember that Jesus found special joy and happiness in children and said all of us should be more like them--guileless and pure, quick to laugh and to love and to forgive, slow to remember any offense (p. 23)."
"Don't count on laws or legislatures or courts or civil authorities or anyone else to provide our defense. Our defense is a burning conviction of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a keeping of those commandments. Our defense is in prayer and faith, in study and fasting, in the gifts of the Spirit, the ministration of angels, the power of the priesthood (p. 26)."
"Healing is mentioned as if it were a synonym for teaching and preaching (p. 29)."
"Christ wants our teaching to lead to healing of the spiritual kind....As with the Master, wouldn't it be wonderful to measure the success of our teaching by the healing that takes place in the lives of our students?...Rather than just giving a lesson, please try a little harder to help that blind basketball star really see, or the deaf homecoming queen really hear, or the privately lame student body president really walk. Try a little harder to fortify someone so powerfully that whatever temptations the devils of hell throw at her or him, these students will be able to withstand and thus truly in that moment be free from evil (p. 31)."
"The thing Christ seems most anxious to stress about His mission--beyond the personal virtues and beyond the magnificent sermons and even beyond the healing--is that He submitted His will to the will of the Father (p. 42)."
"A convert's new life is to be built upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming sacrifice--a conviction that He really is the Son of God, that He lives this very moment, that He really is the door of the sheepfold, that He alone holds the key to our salvation and exaltation. That belief is to be followed by true repentance, repentance which shows our desire to be clean and renewed and whole, repentance that allows us to lay claim to the full blessings of the Atonement (p. 48)."
"In the 11th chapter of Matthew, verses 28-30, the Savior says" 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' This is my basic message to each of you, wherever you live, whatever your joys or sorrows, however young or old you may be, at whatever point you may find yourself in this mortal journey of ours. Some of you are where you want to be, or you know where you want to go with your lives, and some of you don't. Some of you seem to have so many blessings and so many wonderful choices ahead of you. Others of you feel, for a time and for whatever reason, less fortunate and with fewer attractive paths lying immediately ahead. But whoever you are and wherever you find yourself as you seek your way in life, I offer you 'the way...and the life' (John 14:6). Wherever else you think you may be going, I ask you to 'come unto Him' as the imperative first step in getting there, in finding your individual happiness and strength and success (p. 63)."
"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] (p. 67).'"
"Don't worry about Christ running out of ability to help you. His grace is sufficient. That is the spiritual, eternal lesson of the feeding of the 5,000 (p. 73)."
"One of the grand ironies of the gospel is that the very source of help and safety being offered us is the thing from which we may, in our mortal shortsightedness, flee....Too often we see gospel commitments and commandments as something to be feared and forsaken (p. 74)."
"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 (p. 93)."
"No one's eyes were more penetrating than His, and much of what He saw pierced His heart. His ears heard every cry of distress, every sound of want and despair. To a degree far more than we will ever understand, He was 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3). Indeed, to the layman in the streets of Judea, Christ's career must have seemed a failure, a tragedy, a good man totally overwhelmed by the evils surrounding Him and the misdeeds of others. He was misunderstood or misrepresented, even hated from the beginning. No matter what He said or did, His statements were twisted, His actions suspected, His motives impugned. In the entire history of the world no one has ever loved so purely or served so selflessly--and been treated so diabolically for His effort. Yet nothing could break His faith in His Father's plan or His Father's promises. Even in those darkest hours of Gethsemane and Calvary, He pressed on, continuing to trust in the very God whom He momentarily feared had forsaken Him. Because Christ's eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could endure all that was required of Him (p. 94)."
"'Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--thirty years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come (p. 97).'"
"'The temple is the only place I have been where I felt truly whole. I have always felt I was a daughter of God, but only in the temple did I understand what that truly meant (p. 105).'"
"I testify of home and family and marriage, the most precious human possessions of our lives. I testify of the need to protect and preserve them while we find time and ways to serve faithfully in the Church (p. 113)."
"My call to you is something of the call Joshua gave to an earlier generation of priesthood bearers, young men and those not so young, who needed to perform a miracle in their time.... Joshua said, 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you' (Joshua 3:5) (p. 117)."
"'To every man there comes...that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour (Winston Churchill, p. 123).'"
"The gospel of Jesus Christ holds the answer to every social and political and economic problem this world has ever faced. And I know we can each do something, however small that act may seem to be. We can pay an honest tithe and give our fast and freewill offerings, according to our circumstances. And we can watch for other ways to help. To worthy causes and needy people, we can give time if we don't have money, and we can give love when our time runs out. We can share the loaves we have and trust God that he cruse of oil will not fail (p. 148)."
"When the call to serve came, he responded. When his particular assignment involved more than he had bargained for and was harder than he expected, he accepted that as well. And when enemies of the Church, malicious men, might have done him harm or otherwise damaged his faith, he said to them just one thing. 'There are many things I don't know. What I do know is that a prophet of God has sent me here. I will be true to that trust placed in me (p. 157).'"
"Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us--insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone (see Isaiah 61:10; 2 Nephi 4:33; 9:14) (p. 165)."
"Don't let your guard down. Don't assume that a great revelation, some marvelous, illuminating moment, the opening of an inspired path, is the end of it....What happens to Moses next, after his revelatory moment, would be ludicrous if it were not so dangerous and so true to form. Lucifer--in an effort to continue his opposition, in his unfailing effort to get his licks in later if not sooner--appears and shouts in equal portions of anger....But Moses is not having it. He has just seen the real thing, and by comparison this sort of performance is pretty dismal (p. 169)."
"What goodly land? Well, your goodly land. Your promised land. Your new Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny. I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us. We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord's will for us and to know that He loves us beyond mortal comprehension (p. 177)."
"Everyone meets affliction in mortality. Everyone knows some sorrow. Everyone experiences disappointments, even despair, and looks for ways to bear up and keep on going. The answer for all times and all seasons is to 'trust Jesus (p. x).'"
"My testimony is of the angels and ministers of grace who will always defend us, as the prophet Alma commanded us, we 'take care of...sacred things,' we 'look to God and live' (Alma 37:47). More prayer and humility, more faith and forgiveness, more repentance and revelation and reinforcement from heaven--these are where we seek remedy and deliverance (p. 4)."
"During the Savior's Galilean ministry, He chided those who had heard of Him feeding the 5,000 with only five barley loaves and two fishes and now flocked to Him expecting a free lunch. That food, important as it was, was incidental to the real nourishment He was trying to give them (p. 11)."
"Everything in the gospel teaches us that we can change if we need to, that we can be helped if we truly want it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past (p. 14)."
"We could remember that even with such a solemn mission given to Him, the Savior found delight in living; He enjoyed people and told His disciples to be of good cheer. He said we should be as thrilled with the gospel as one who had found a great treasure, a veritable pearl of great price, right on our own doorstep. We could remember that Jesus found special joy and happiness in children and said all of us should be more like them--guileless and pure, quick to laugh and to love and to forgive, slow to remember any offense (p. 23)."
"Don't count on laws or legislatures or courts or civil authorities or anyone else to provide our defense. Our defense is a burning conviction of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a keeping of those commandments. Our defense is in prayer and faith, in study and fasting, in the gifts of the Spirit, the ministration of angels, the power of the priesthood (p. 26)."
"Healing is mentioned as if it were a synonym for teaching and preaching (p. 29)."
"Christ wants our teaching to lead to healing of the spiritual kind....As with the Master, wouldn't it be wonderful to measure the success of our teaching by the healing that takes place in the lives of our students?...Rather than just giving a lesson, please try a little harder to help that blind basketball star really see, or the deaf homecoming queen really hear, or the privately lame student body president really walk. Try a little harder to fortify someone so powerfully that whatever temptations the devils of hell throw at her or him, these students will be able to withstand and thus truly in that moment be free from evil (p. 31)."
"The thing Christ seems most anxious to stress about His mission--beyond the personal virtues and beyond the magnificent sermons and even beyond the healing--is that He submitted His will to the will of the Father (p. 42)."
"A convert's new life is to be built upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming sacrifice--a conviction that He really is the Son of God, that He lives this very moment, that He really is the door of the sheepfold, that He alone holds the key to our salvation and exaltation. That belief is to be followed by true repentance, repentance which shows our desire to be clean and renewed and whole, repentance that allows us to lay claim to the full blessings of the Atonement (p. 48)."
"In the 11th chapter of Matthew, verses 28-30, the Savior says" 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' This is my basic message to each of you, wherever you live, whatever your joys or sorrows, however young or old you may be, at whatever point you may find yourself in this mortal journey of ours. Some of you are where you want to be, or you know where you want to go with your lives, and some of you don't. Some of you seem to have so many blessings and so many wonderful choices ahead of you. Others of you feel, for a time and for whatever reason, less fortunate and with fewer attractive paths lying immediately ahead. But whoever you are and wherever you find yourself as you seek your way in life, I offer you 'the way...and the life' (John 14:6). Wherever else you think you may be going, I ask you to 'come unto Him' as the imperative first step in getting there, in finding your individual happiness and strength and success (p. 63)."
"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] (p. 67).'"
"Don't worry about Christ running out of ability to help you. His grace is sufficient. That is the spiritual, eternal lesson of the feeding of the 5,000 (p. 73)."
"One of the grand ironies of the gospel is that the very source of help and safety being offered us is the thing from which we may, in our mortal shortsightedness, flee....Too often we see gospel commitments and commandments as something to be feared and forsaken (p. 74)."
"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 (p. 93)."
"No one's eyes were more penetrating than His, and much of what He saw pierced His heart. His ears heard every cry of distress, every sound of want and despair. To a degree far more than we will ever understand, He was 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief' (Isaiah 53:3). Indeed, to the layman in the streets of Judea, Christ's career must have seemed a failure, a tragedy, a good man totally overwhelmed by the evils surrounding Him and the misdeeds of others. He was misunderstood or misrepresented, even hated from the beginning. No matter what He said or did, His statements were twisted, His actions suspected, His motives impugned. In the entire history of the world no one has ever loved so purely or served so selflessly--and been treated so diabolically for His effort. Yet nothing could break His faith in His Father's plan or His Father's promises. Even in those darkest hours of Gethsemane and Calvary, He pressed on, continuing to trust in the very God whom He momentarily feared had forsaken Him. Because Christ's eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could endure all that was required of Him (p. 94)."
"'Don't give up, boy. Don't you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--thirty years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come (p. 97).'"
"'The temple is the only place I have been where I felt truly whole. I have always felt I was a daughter of God, but only in the temple did I understand what that truly meant (p. 105).'"
"I testify of home and family and marriage, the most precious human possessions of our lives. I testify of the need to protect and preserve them while we find time and ways to serve faithfully in the Church (p. 113)."
"My call to you is something of the call Joshua gave to an earlier generation of priesthood bearers, young men and those not so young, who needed to perform a miracle in their time.... Joshua said, 'Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you' (Joshua 3:5) (p. 117)."
"'To every man there comes...that special moment when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him and fitted to his talent. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour (Winston Churchill, p. 123).'"
"The gospel of Jesus Christ holds the answer to every social and political and economic problem this world has ever faced. And I know we can each do something, however small that act may seem to be. We can pay an honest tithe and give our fast and freewill offerings, according to our circumstances. And we can watch for other ways to help. To worthy causes and needy people, we can give time if we don't have money, and we can give love when our time runs out. We can share the loaves we have and trust God that he cruse of oil will not fail (p. 148)."
"When the call to serve came, he responded. When his particular assignment involved more than he had bargained for and was harder than he expected, he accepted that as well. And when enemies of the Church, malicious men, might have done him harm or otherwise damaged his faith, he said to them just one thing. 'There are many things I don't know. What I do know is that a prophet of God has sent me here. I will be true to that trust placed in me (p. 157).'"
"Brothers and sisters, I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us--insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; He doesn't measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone (see Isaiah 61:10; 2 Nephi 4:33; 9:14) (p. 165)."
"Don't let your guard down. Don't assume that a great revelation, some marvelous, illuminating moment, the opening of an inspired path, is the end of it....What happens to Moses next, after his revelatory moment, would be ludicrous if it were not so dangerous and so true to form. Lucifer--in an effort to continue his opposition, in his unfailing effort to get his licks in later if not sooner--appears and shouts in equal portions of anger....But Moses is not having it. He has just seen the real thing, and by comparison this sort of performance is pretty dismal (p. 169)."
"What goodly land? Well, your goodly land. Your promised land. Your new Jerusalem. Your own little acre flowing with milk and honey. Your future. Your dreams. Your destiny. I believe that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us. We may not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord's will for us and to know that He loves us beyond mortal comprehension (p. 177)."
May 16, 2021
This volume is a collection of some of Elder Holland's talks. He has lone been one of my favorite speakers, dating back to when he was President of BYU-P while I was a student there. I remember a few of these, but I'm glad to have them all in one volume. A few excerpts that stood out to me on this read-through:
1. "We have sown the wind of religious skepticism, and we are reaping the whirlwind of existential despair."
2. "The economic condition in the world, speaking generally and certainly not specifically, is probably better than it has ever been in history, but the human heart is still anxious and often filled with great stress." This certainly describes many of our students in higher education!
3. Speaking of those who are spiritual teachers, he said "...the call is for a certain kind of teacher, a teacher who in the process heals...wouldn't it be wonderful to measure the success of your teaching by the healing that takes place in the lives of your students?"
4. Sermons and exhortations are of kittle avail if the actual lives of the Savior's disciples don't change.
5. "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our souls."
6. "'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid' (John 14:27). I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior's commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord's merciful heart."
7. "...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."
8. "We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember those of others."
9. "Those who feel no need for mercy usually never seek it and almost never bestow it. Surely it is better to find the goodness of God and the grace of Christ...than to risk living out lives in a moral or material complacency that has never felt any need for faith or forgiveness, any need for redemption or relief."
10. "...the original Latin meaning of the word amusement is 'a diversion of the mind intended to deceive.'" I add from another source that the Greek word for leisure (scholé) is the origin of the Latin scola, or school. The classical ideal for education, which culminated in philosophy, was that its goal was truth-seeking, not profit-earning. To be pursuing leisure, then, was to pursue learning, but not as a means to material productivity or profit.
11. Speaking of the "good" son in the parable of the prodigal son, Elder Holland observes that when that son objected to his father's embrace of the prodigal, he had "yet to come to the compassion and mercy, the charitable breadth of vision to see that this is not a rival returning. It is his brother. He has fallen victim to a fictional affront. One who has heretofore presumably been very happy with his life and content with his good fortune suddenly feels very unhappy simply because another has had some good fortune as well." How often that same envy afflicts all of us!
12. "Most 'thou shalt not' commandments are meant to keep us from hurting others, but I am convinced that the commandment not to covet is meant to keep us from hurting ourselves."
13. Speaking of the teaching in D&C 9, that the Lord will reveal his will to us in our minds and in our hearts, Elder Holland says "I love the combination there of both mind and heart. God will teach us in a reasonable way and in a revelatory way - mind and heart combined - by the Holy Ghost." That last is important - the Holy Spirit works through our minds - our reason - as much as through our hearts - our feelings. Both are necessary elements of personal revelation.
There is much to ponder upon here, slowly and thoughtfully...and repeatedly.
1. "We have sown the wind of religious skepticism, and we are reaping the whirlwind of existential despair."
2. "The economic condition in the world, speaking generally and certainly not specifically, is probably better than it has ever been in history, but the human heart is still anxious and often filled with great stress." This certainly describes many of our students in higher education!
3. Speaking of those who are spiritual teachers, he said "...the call is for a certain kind of teacher, a teacher who in the process heals...wouldn't it be wonderful to measure the success of your teaching by the healing that takes place in the lives of your students?"
4. Sermons and exhortations are of kittle avail if the actual lives of the Savior's disciples don't change.
5. "I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our souls."
6. "'Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid' (John 14:27). I submit to you, that may be one of the Savior's commandments that is, even in the hearts of otherwise faithful Latter-day Saints, almost universally disobeyed; and yet I wonder whether our resistance to this invitation could be any more grievous to the Lord's merciful heart."
7. "...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."
8. "We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember those of others."
9. "Those who feel no need for mercy usually never seek it and almost never bestow it. Surely it is better to find the goodness of God and the grace of Christ...than to risk living out lives in a moral or material complacency that has never felt any need for faith or forgiveness, any need for redemption or relief."
10. "...the original Latin meaning of the word amusement is 'a diversion of the mind intended to deceive.'" I add from another source that the Greek word for leisure (scholé) is the origin of the Latin scola, or school. The classical ideal for education, which culminated in philosophy, was that its goal was truth-seeking, not profit-earning. To be pursuing leisure, then, was to pursue learning, but not as a means to material productivity or profit.
11. Speaking of the "good" son in the parable of the prodigal son, Elder Holland observes that when that son objected to his father's embrace of the prodigal, he had "yet to come to the compassion and mercy, the charitable breadth of vision to see that this is not a rival returning. It is his brother. He has fallen victim to a fictional affront. One who has heretofore presumably been very happy with his life and content with his good fortune suddenly feels very unhappy simply because another has had some good fortune as well." How often that same envy afflicts all of us!
12. "Most 'thou shalt not' commandments are meant to keep us from hurting others, but I am convinced that the commandment not to covet is meant to keep us from hurting ourselves."
13. Speaking of the teaching in D&C 9, that the Lord will reveal his will to us in our minds and in our hearts, Elder Holland says "I love the combination there of both mind and heart. God will teach us in a reasonable way and in a revelatory way - mind and heart combined - by the Holy Ghost." That last is important - the Holy Spirit works through our minds - our reason - as much as through our hearts - our feelings. Both are necessary elements of personal revelation.
There is much to ponder upon here, slowly and thoughtfully...and repeatedly.
December 24, 2020
This book was AMAZING! Normally church books or talks can be kind of hard to read sometimes, but I would read this book for 3 hours straight and not even realize it. This will show my age but this book is like mario eating a mushroom or flower or leaf. It's like the music gets peppier, and all of a sudden mario can defeat anything. That's how this book felt to me. I could be having a weak day or feeling defeated or discourage and after reading this book then setting it down I feel like I can take on the world and there isn't anything I can't do! I LOVED IT!!!!
I also found it funny how some of the ratings that are less than 5 stars say something like "this is just a compilation of all his talks" and my thoughts in response to that is, "YEAH, it is, IT'S AWESOME!!!" I loved Holland's talks and to just read them back to back was HEAVENLY and everything I needed to get that spiritual power and juice!
I also found it funny how some of the ratings that are less than 5 stars say something like "this is just a compilation of all his talks" and my thoughts in response to that is, "YEAH, it is, IT'S AWESOME!!!" I loved Holland's talks and to just read them back to back was HEAVENLY and everything I needed to get that spiritual power and juice!
May 9, 2017
I picked this book up thinking that it was a new book written by Elder Holland. It is not. This is really a collection of talks by Elder Holland with very little explanations or bridges between the talks.
One of the things that I like about Elder Holland is that he speaks so personal and directly and understands the audience he is speaking to. Combining these talks into a book, you lose the context from which he originally gave the address. In one chapter he is speaking to missionaries, in another to someone struggling with faith, etc.
Each individual talk reproduced in this book is good when read in context, but the fact that they were placed as chapters in a book annoyed me.
One of the things that I like about Elder Holland is that he speaks so personal and directly and understands the audience he is speaking to. Combining these talks into a book, you lose the context from which he originally gave the address. In one chapter he is speaking to missionaries, in another to someone struggling with faith, etc.
Each individual talk reproduced in this book is good when read in context, but the fact that they were placed as chapters in a book annoyed me.
January 17, 2018
Okay, I know it's Jeffrey R. Holland, and he writes excellent talks, but that's all this is--a collection of talks. I could have looked them all up online. And they really had nothing to do with the title. Just a random assortment of talks. I guess I should have read the description better. They were good talks, but not worth the ticket price when again, I could have just looked them up online. The best talk was definitely "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence." That's worth looking up. BYU speeches--for free.
August 4, 2019
This book is a collection of talks, and it took me a while to read because I’d read one talk, feel like I finished something, and then come back weeks later for the next one. BUT each talk was so well written. I love how Elder Holland focuses his talks on a subject, how he expands events from the scriptures so they really speak to us today, how he infuses everything with his testimony. Every time I opened this book to read the next talk, that talk would touch on exactly what I needed at that particular time :)
October 15, 2019
This beautiful book is a collection of talks by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. So obviously, what's not to love! It was published in 2003 but I was actually surprised how some of these talks were still so familiar to me that I would have thought they were given more recently. The counsel given is focused on our savior, Jesus Christ, and his atonement, and the blessings that are ours if we trust in him. Such wonderful instruction. So glad to have read it.
December 29, 2023
This excellent collection weaves together many of Holland's conference, BYU, and other talks that center around our relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ. I especially enjoy these transcriptions because he includes narrative examples from his own experience or from the experiences of others that touch the reader as they illustrate his excellent, thoughtful concepts about our spiritual challenges. Inspiring, positive and easy to read.
August 30, 2024
I loved this book. There were so many great stories and concepts. My only complaint is I’ve heard many of those stories before so it wasn’t as exciting during those parts. And a few of the chapters were writing for missionaries. My missionary service is over and done so I didn’t get as much as I should have or could have.
December 3, 2017
This is a little collection of some of Elder Holland's talks condensed down. Of course they are very full of good information. Some talks hit me harder and affected me more than others at this time in my life.
November 2, 2020
3.5 stars- This was a pretty good read. Some amazing chapters that really hit home! But a lot of it was just using his talks from conference or other places I’ve heard. The messages were five star all the way though.
November 21, 2017
An excellent read on trust.
December 26, 2017
I enjoyed these talks on how to trust Jesus. Most of them were talks he gave in the 90's that I remembered but have never studied. I would like to buy this book.
June 2, 2019
We all need hope, and Jeffrey R. Holland leads us by the hand to the source of all hope, Jesus Christ, in this soul-restoring collection.
May 29, 2020
This is another one of T’s books. Like me, Elder Holland was a favorite of hers
August 8, 2020
A wonderful collection of encouragement to trust in and follow the savior!
June 6, 2021
Powerful stories and advice to connect you more deeply with Jesus Christ.
May 11, 2023
The messages, the stories, the gospel. Uplifting and courageous words for any soul.
July 11, 2024
I love Elder Holland and his strong testimony of how to get closer to Christ and come to know Him.
March 22, 2012
This wasn't my favorite book. But I'm not quite sure why I didn't like it. I guess my chief observation would be that it just didn't capture my attention. My mind would wonder when I would come across yet another long scriptural quotation in the middle of the text. I would read a sentence and begin pondering on it and forget about the book because my thoughts were more interesting to me than getting back to the text. Perhaps that is user error over author error.
At times I felt myself marginalized-- he spoke repetitively to missionaries, converts, and Priesthood holders. This bothered me and I felt that he should have written another book directed toward men of the Priesthood if he only wanted to address them.
I wanted to like this book. There were some great quotes and touching stories, but I wanted it to be mind blowing and fill me with perspective and revelation. But it just didn't.
At times I felt myself marginalized-- he spoke repetitively to missionaries, converts, and Priesthood holders. This bothered me and I felt that he should have written another book directed toward men of the Priesthood if he only wanted to address them.
I wanted to like this book. There were some great quotes and touching stories, but I wanted it to be mind blowing and fill me with perspective and revelation. But it just didn't.
November 9, 2007
This is a compilation of Elder Holland's talks that have been edited to run together in this book. My understanding of Jesus Christ has been exponentially increased through reading this book. Elder Holland opens up scripture passages--mostly from the New Testament--and teaches about the Savior in a way I've never heard before. My faith in Jesus Christ, my understanding of who He is, of what He did for every soul, and of my responsibilities have become so much more clear. It's hard to put down and it's undiluted. Recommend to EVERYONE!
October 27, 2011
Simply amazing and very tender and loving! I think I cried my way through this book! It was exactly what I needed for this time in my life! I was blown away by this compilation of talks by Jeffrey R. Holland and the fact that Christ's love for mankind shines through on every page! I am trying to broaden my gospel book horizon (for my job because I never have anything to suggest) and this one was a fantastic one to start with! I will definitely be picking up more of his books because they are awesome! :) And suggesting it!
June 12, 2008
This book is really a compilation of many talks given by Elder Holland at various times. Each talk/chapter focuses on the Savior and His redeeming role in our lives. The book is divided into 4 main sections with 4 to 5 chapters in each section (I Am the Living Bread, Confident in His Care, True to the Trust, Stay the Course). Characteristic of Elder Holland, the talks in this book go right to the heart. Each one is a delight to study and ponder.
September 28, 2009
This book is a collection of Elder Holland's talk from General Conference and other various meetings. I would probably think twice before buying a book like this again, not because the content isn't great but I can probably get 80% of this book on the internet for free! (Though print outs don't look as pretty on your bookshelf!) I found the talks very inspiring and some of them were things that I really needed to hear right now.
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