... Sign up for the BYU Speeches newsletter to receive monthly inspiration. Patricia Terry Holland (born February 16, 1942) is a Latter-day Saint writer and leader. overrideCardHideByline= Devotional by Jeffrey R. Holland on December 1st 1998, titled: "Christmas Comfort" Tags. We are grateful to President and Sister Samuelson for their kindness and their leadership at this university. When things got too sinful, or there was too much secularization in society, or life with the Gentiles was destroying the moral code and commandments God had given, the children of the covenant would be sent fleeing into the wilderness to reestablish Zion and start all over again. Titled "Living after the Manner of Happiness". Such is the wonder of faith and repentance and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Devotional or Speech given at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. Do you remember this?” Splat. I was listening to the newest BYU Speeches one day and found myself brought to tears by one graduation speech. Jeffrey R. Holland. University Communications We actually know something about their jobs and what they entail. Lorenzo Snow Administration Building Room 200 You have had, will have, and now have better university presidents than I was, but you’ll never have one who loves you and loves this university more than I do. overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= Should we stop trying to tackle what right now seems so difficult to face?”, In my best reenactment of Lot’s wife, I said, in effect, “Let’s go back. __________________________ Such dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is just not right! We were as starstruck—and as fearful—as most of you are at these ages and stages of life. Will life be sound? Let people grow. At this point, let me pause and add a lesson that applies both in your own life and also in the lives of others. Stott, God’s New Society: The Message of Ephesians, The Bible Speaks Today (1982) Echoing that thought, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that “nothing worthwhile ever just happens." Then, after several years, he came back to the town of his youth. See more ideas about quotes, inspirational quotes, byu. The address can be found in a variety of formats at speeches.byu.edu. It is Luke 17:32, where the Savior cautions, “Remember Lot’s wife.”. It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. Through his participation in high school sports, he got to know a cheerleader named Patricia Terry. He obtained master and doctor of philosophy degrees in American Studies from Yale University. overrideTextAlignment= Speeches. Classic BYU Speeches BYU Speeches Espiritualidades Ouvir em Apple Podcasts. She stood there in the sunlight that day and gave me a real talk. Later in his life he moved away from his community. It would appear that even before they were past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. "With all else you have learned here, may you leave this great school secure in the promise of God’s unfailing love for you and the blessing of … overrideCardHideDescription= Kauwue, III, better known as Keoni...and to extend to him the call to be the next president of Brigham Young University–Hawaii. You have our prayers, our gratitude, and our support. Jeffrey Roy Holland (born December 3, 1940) is an American educator and religious leader. They are the parents of Matthew, Mary Alice, and David, the parents-in-law of Paige, Lee and Jeanne, and the grandparents of 13 beautiful grandchildren and one great grandchild. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. May I move toward a close with a few lines from another favorite poet whom I probably met in that same class or one similar to it. For the benefit of all BYU students in the new year of 2009, Robert Browning wrote: The last of life, for which the first was made: Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”. He inherited seemingly unending selflessness from his mother and his fathers Irish wit. On a spot that I could probably still mark for you today, I turned to Pat and said something like this: “Honey, should we give up? Then our theme today comes in the next verse. May 12, 2020 - Explore BYU Speeches's board "Inspiring Quotes", followed by 2302 people on Pinterest. And soon enough everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what God, our Father in Heaven, pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing. So we laughed, kept walking, and finished up sharing a root beer—one glass, two straws—at the then newly constructed Wilkinson Center. Closed: Devotionals and Holidays, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We can be so hard on ourselves, often much more so than with others! Jeffrey R. Holland was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given on 13 January 2009. In the time we have this morning, I am not going to talk to you about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, nor of the comparison the Lord Himself has made to those days and our own time. Classic BYU Speeches BYU Speeches Spirituality 4.9 • 12 Ratings; Listen on Apple Podcasts. With less than immediate obedience and more than a little negotiation, Lot and his family ultimately did leave town, but just in the nick of time. "In this final canonized statement of the Liberty Jail experience, the … Jeffrey R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, delivered this commencement address on April 26, 2018. He eventually joined the army and had some successful experiences there in getting an education and generally stepping away from his past. That is a New Year’s resolution I ask you to keep, and I leave a blessing on you—every one of you—to be able to do so and to be happy, in the name of Him who makes it all possible, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Perhaps at this beginning of a new year there is no greater requirement for us than to do as the Lord Himself said He does: “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42). Provo, Utah 84602, “Remember Lot’s Wife”: Faith Is for the Future. BYU’s podcast ... a Ring, and a Fatted Calf | Jeffrey R. Holland, Jan 1984. Jeffrey R. Holland was born in St. George, Utah. Devotionals. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin. Collected Talks of Jeffrey R. Holland. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. We had a small apartment just south of campus—the smallest we could find: two rooms and a half bath. ... BYU–Idaho. Commencements. overrideTextAlignment=, Zion: Temples of Learning and Temples of Faith, Jeffrey R. Holland, Dan Marriott, Marvin J. Ashton Devotional. The Officers and Board of Trustees of BYU–Hawaii have extended their heartfelt vote of thanks and conveyed a much deserved letter of release to John and Susan Tanner for their remarkable years of service at the university... And true to the deliverance God always provides for his people, heaven has cast a divine shaft of light on John S.K. Dismiss the destructive and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family and your friends and your neighbors. Stuck in a spiritual rut? Sister Holland and I were married about the time both of us were reading poems like that in BYU classrooms. Yes! In these cases of marriage and family and wards and apartments and neighborhoods, we can end up destroying so many, many others. As a scriptural theme for this discussion, I have chosen the second-shortest verse in all of holy scripture. I am thrilled to be … Convocations. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Believe that people can change and improve. Jeffrey R. Holland was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this devotional address was given on 13 January 2009. Elder Holland was active in professional educational activity prior to his call to full-time Church service. Future Students Current Students Employees Parents and Family Alumni He served a mission to England from 1960 to 1962 before returning to St. George where he married his wife, Patricia … For a variety of reasons, neither of our families was able to help finance our education. Do you remember this?” Splat! Search. I can do some things. Contact. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come.”. Paul knows it is out there in the future, up ahead wherever heaven is taking us where we will win “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”. For his work in improving understanding between Christians and Jews he was awarded the "Torch of Liberty" award by the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'rith. By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Jeffrey R. Holland is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.. Elder Holland was born on December 3, 1940, and grew up in St. George, Utah. Send comments on this article to magazine@byu.edu. BYU Speeches The story of the prodigal son testifies that no matter how mild or how severe our sins, there is always a way back to light, peace, and eternal life. One of the purposes of history is to teach us the lessons of life. I don’t want to talk to you about New Year’s resolutions, because you only made five of them and you have already broken four. Apparently she thought—fatally, as it turned out—that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as those moments she was leaving behind. I am not even going to talk about obedience and disobedience. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes about looking back and looking ahead. To find out, I suppose we need to do as He suggested. That is not good. He came full circle: again inactive and unhappy and the brunt of a new generation of jokes. (I give that remaining one just another week.) Little by little this man’s Pauline effort to leave that which was behind and grasp the prize that God had laid before him was gradually diminished until he died about the way he had lived in his youth. Office Hours and Location And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Life that day seemed so overwhelming, and the undergraduate plus graduate years that we still anticipated before us seemed monumental, nearly insurmountable. ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17; emphasis added). And when it comes to mind again, forget it again. From 1980 until his call as a General Authority in 1989 Jeffrey R. Holland served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life—either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. We had absolutely no money. Is that hope? Yes! I would see you sometimes as couples, sometimes as a group of friends, sometimes as just a lone student. But I do want to talk to you about the past and the future, not so much in terms of New Year’s commitments per se, but more with an eye toward any time of transition and change in your lives—and those moments come virtually every day of our lives. He wanted to increase significantly BYU's academic vitality and accomplishments, while strengthening and emphasizing its unique religious nature. After reviewing the very privileged and rewarding life of his early years—his birthright, his education, his standing in the Jewish community—Paul says that all of that was nothing (“dung” he calls it) compared to his conversion to Christianity. Let’s go home. I can get a good job and carve out a good living for us. Surely, surely, with the Lord’s counsel “look not behind thee” ringing clearly in her ears, Lot’s wife, the record says, “looked back,” and she was turned into a pillar of salt. Forgive, and do that which is harder than to forgive: Forget. We’re thrilled to be with you on it, and we love you personally with all our hearts. I’ll be okay without a degree. One of my favorite books of the New Testament is Paul’s too-seldom-read letter to the Philippians. In effect, this has been Israel’s history down through the ages. Don’t keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, “Hey! Well, you know what happened. 1 of The Life of Reason [1905–1906]). A student leader and varsity athlete at Dixie High School and Dixie College in his native St. George, Utah, he received his bachelor and master degrees in English and religious education, respectively, from Brigham Young University. Watch Live Stream. You and we are very lucky to have them at the helm of this special school, and we praise them publicly for the time they spend, the success they are having, and the strength that they bring. The start of a new year is the traditional time to take stock of our lives and see where we are going, measured against the backdrop of where we have been. Our Father is waiting to greet us with open arms and with a robe, ring, and the fatted calf. Also see other collected talks. We certainly know that Laman and Lemuel were resentful when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. Stuck in a spiritual rut? Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence | Jeffrey R. Holland Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to go home? . overrideButtonText= “The Third Great Commandment and Other Thoughts” Brigham Young University-Idaho Commencement. overrideCardHideSection= He is the author of eight books, one of which he co-authored with his wife, Patricia. She was a counselor in the Young Women General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1984 to 1986. that have come to you in places where you ought not have gone,” I wish to extend to you the special peace and promise available through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. With any luck, she might have read, as I did, this verse from Edwin Arlington Robinson: When swords were bright and steeds were prancing; [Miniver Cheevy (1910), stanzas 1–3, 6, 8], To yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now; to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future; to miss the here-and-now-and-tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there-and-then-and-yesterday—these are some of the sins, if we may call them that, of both Lot’s wife and old Mr. Cheevy. What did He mean by such an enigmatic little phrase? Jeffrey R. Holland recalls the story of the prodigal son, which testifies that no matter how mild or how severe our sins, there is always a way back to light, peace, and eternal life. communications@byuh.edu Our Father is waiting to greet us with open arms and with a robe, ring, and the fatted calf. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Holland is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Laie, Hawaii 96762-1293, (808) 675-3457 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 April 1, 1989. He is a former Church commissioner of education and dean of the College of Religious Education at BYU. © Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. overrideTextColor= We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. He served as president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities (AAPICU), on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Presidents Commission. Keep your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away. . Let’s recall who Lot’s wife was. BYU Women’s Conference announced Wednesday that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be the concluding speaker at the 2020 Women’s Conference. That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, “Yeah, I remember it. John R.W. April 23, 2005. The future holds everything for us.”. Jeffrey R. Holland When Jeffrey R. Holland took the helm of BYU, he did so with two principal goals in mind. The original story, of course, comes to us out of the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the Lord, having had as much as He could stand of the worst that men and women could do, told Lot and his family to flee because those cities were about to be destroyed. Apparently when he returned quite successful and quite reborn, the same old mind-set that had existed before was still there, waiting for his return. 55-220 Kulanui Street Bldg 5 As Elder Maxwell once said, such people know they should have their primary residence in Zion, but they still hope to keep a summer cottage in Babylon (see Larry W. Gibbons, “Wherefore, Settle This in Your Hearts,” Ensign, November 2006, 102; also Neal A. Maxwell, A Wonderful Flood of Light [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1990], 47). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland implores us to “Remember Lot’s Wife,” to avoid looking back, and to instead look toward the future with faith in the Lord. Now, like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies of the Book of Mormon, bury your weapons of war, and leave them buried. Somewhere on that path we stopped and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Yes! Mon. “Escape for thy life,” the Lord said, “look not behind thee . Speech: The Language and Love of Leadership: Author: Speech: What Shall I Do Then With Jesus? To be tied to earlier mistakes—our own or other people’s—is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist. The proviso, of course, is that repentance has to be sincere, but when it is and when honest effort is being made to progress, we are guilty of the greater sin if we keep remembering and recalling and rebashing someone with their earlier mistakes—and that “someone” might be ourselves. Elder Holland was born December 3, 1940, to Frank D. and Alice Bentley Holland. September 21, 1976. (Now, as a passing comment, I don’t know whether Lot’s wife, like Miniver, was a drinker, but if she was, she certainly ended up with plenty of salt for her pretzels.). Elder 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 June 23, 1994. I knew something of what you were feeling. My young brothers and sisters, I pray you will have a wonderful semester, a wonderful new year, and a wonderful life all filled with faith and hope and charity. I am told that the shortest verse—a verse that every missionary memorizes and holds ready in case he is called on spontaneously in a zone conference—is John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” Elders, here is a second option, another shortie that will dazzle your mission president in case you are called on two zone conferences in a row. He was athletic, participating in varsity teams at Dixie High School and Dixie College. It is not Christian. From 1980 to 1989, Holland was "first lady" of Brigham Young University (BYU) where her husband, Jeffrey R. Holland, was president. Sister Holland walked in and said, “I think I’m going to cry.” You have to understand: Give yourselves 20 or 30 years—then you’ll know how we feel coming back here. Some of you were having thoughts such as these: Is there any future for me? Speeches > Jeffrey R. Holland > “Remember Lot’s Wife”: Faith Is for the Future. So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. Twenty years later I would, on occasion, look out of the window of the President’s Home across the street from the Brimhall Building and picture there on the sidewalk two newlywed BYU students, down on their money and down even more on their confidence. 5 And as I would gaze out that window, usually at night, I would occasionally see not Pat and Jeff Holland but you and you and you, walking that same sidewalk. I can’t tell you the number of couples I have counseled who, when they are deeply hurt or even just deeply stressed, reach farther and farther into the past to find yet a bigger brick to throw through the window “pain” of their marriage. He has served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business related corporations and has received the “Distinguished Eagle Scout” award from the Boy Scouts of America. Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever. BYU’s podcast ... A Robe, a Ring, and a Fatted Calf | Jeffrey R. Holland, Jan 1984. No looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah here. It is here at this moment in this little story that we wish Lot’s wife had been a student at BYU enrolled in a freshman English class. If you're aware of any talks available online that aren't listed here, please let me know. Author: Speech "Come unto Me" Author: Speech "How Do I Love Thee?" I was told once of a young man who for many years was more or less the brunt of every joke in his school. In 1963, he married Patricia Terry. overridebuttonBgColor= The scriptures tell us what happened at daybreak the morning following their escape: The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities. To the people in his hometown he was still just old “so and so”—you remember the guy who had the problem, that idiosyncrasy, this quirky nature, and did such and such and such and such. University Communications records, UA 5395 Series 2 Sub-Series 1. BYU–Hawaii #1952 Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. They dated for t… L. Tom Perry Special Collections. President and Sister Samuelson, we do love you. George Santayana, who should be more widely read than he is on a college campus, is best known for saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Reason in Common Sense, vol. [Genesis 19:24–25]. I don’t recall that she quoted Paul, but there was certainly plenty in her voice that said she was committed to setting aside all that was past in order to “press toward the mark” and seize the prize of God that lay yet ahead. Joined the army and had some disadvantages, and the Fatted Calf | Jeffrey Holland. 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