Elder Holland Visits Members in Northern Europe
Contributed By Gerry Avant, Church News editor
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shakes hands with a missionary after a meeting in London.
Article Highlights
- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland held a conference in the Edinburgh Scotland Stake Center on June 7.
- Elder Holland’s visit coincided with the 175th anniversary of the Church in Scotland.
“We loved all of your nations, we loved your languages, … but we especially loved the people—we especially loved you.” —Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
Twenty-five years ago, President Gordon. B. Hinckley called Elder Jeffrey R. Holland into his office and gave him a special assignment: move to the United Kingdom and preside over what was then the Europe North Area.
Elder Holland, then a fairly new member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and his wife, Patricia, and a son, David, lived in the United Kingdom for three years, from 1990 to 1993.
“We loved all of your nations, we loved your languages, … but we especially loved the people—we especially loved you,” Elder Holland said as he addressed a conference originating in the Edinburgh Scotland Stake Center on June 7 and broadcast to 56 stakes throughout northern Europe.
“It was a tearful day for us when our service came to an end and we returned to Church headquarters in Salt Lake City.”
Elder Holland spoke of his days as a young man serving as a missionary in Great Britain when he “read the Book of Mormon seriously and voraciously for the spirit it gave to me. It was while reading this sacred record that I felt—again and again—the undeniable whispering of the Holy Ghost declaring to my soul the truthfulness of its message. To those first convictions have been added, one way or another, endless other quickening moments and sanctifying manifestations that give meaning and purpose to my life.”
He bore testimony of the Book of Mormon as “a true witness—another testament and a new covenant—that Jesus is the Christ” and that Joseph Smith “was and is a prophet of God.”
He spoke of the conversion of his great-great-great-grandfather on the Isle of Man in the earliest days of the Restoration, who said, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so” (George Q. Cannon, in Andrew Jenson, Historical Record 6:175).
During a missionary meeting in London, elders follow scriptures quoted by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland as he addresses them.
Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy and First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency speaks at a meeting for missionaries in London on June 12.
Elder Holland’s visit coincided with the 175th anniversary of the Church in Scotland. Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Scotland for the preaching of the gospel in May 1840, having climbed a hill above Edinburgh Castle and asked the Lord for 200 souls who would receive the gospel. By the time Elder Pratt left Scotland 10 months later, his prayer had been answered, as witnessed by his entry in the Millennial Star: “On the 30th of March [1841] I left upwards of 200 disciples under the watch-care of Elder George D. Watt, a faithful and humble brother from Preston in England. The prospect is still cheering in that city [Edinburgh] and no doubt there will be hundreds who will yet … embrace the message which God has sent to them” (Breck England, “Gospel Seeds in Scottish Soil,” Ensign, Feb. 1987).
While in the United Kingdom, Elder Holland addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Foreign Affairs in the House of Lords at the UK Parliament on Wednesday, June 10.
Accompanied by Elder José A. Teixeira of the Seventy and President of the Europe Area of the Church and Elder Clifford T. Herbertson, an Area Seventy, Elder Holland presided over a priesthood leadership conference and met with missionaries in the Scotland Edinburgh Mission.
Among other activities while in the United Kingdom, Elder Holland, Elder Teixeira, Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy and First Counselor in the Europe Area Presidency, and Elder Herbertson met with missionaries in the England Birmingham Mission on June 11 and with missionaries in the England London and London South Missions on June 12.
On the evening of June 11, Elder Holland spoke at a devotional for young single adults in the Harris Manchester College Chapel at Oxford.
Elder Holland’s eldest son, Matthew S. Holland, who is president of Utah Valley University, was in Great Britain on university business and delivered a lecture at Oxford University on June 11 on the subject of Abraham Lincoln’s leadership qualities.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder José A. Teixeira, and Elder Clifford T. Herbertson shake hands with missionaries after a meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Elder Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Scotland for the preaching of the gospel in May 1840, having climbed a hill above Edinburgh Castle and asked the Lord for 200 souls who would receive the gospel.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder José A. Teixeira, and Elder Clifford T. Herbertson shake hands with missionaries after a meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In London on June 12, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shakes hands with one elder while others wait their turn.
A chorus of sister missionaries sings at a meeting on June 12 in London featuring a message from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stands among missionaries in the aisle of the Edinburg Scotland Stake Center’s chapel as he teaches them during a meeting on June 6.
Missionaries follow along with scriptures Elder Jeffrey R. Holland quotes during a meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
From left, Elder Clifford T. Herbertson, Elder José A. Teixeira, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland shake hands with missionaries after a meeting in London on June 12.
Elder José A. Teixeira of the Seventy and President of the Church’s Europe Area speaks at a missionary meeting in London.
A quartet of missionaries sings at a missionary meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 6.
