How Do I Love Thee?

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland


"How Do I Love Thee?" was originally given by Elder Holland at a BYU devotional address in February 2000. 

I just discovered it this evening - listed one of the TOP 10 speeches of all time on speeches.byu.edu. 

It was listed with my other two two favorite talks by him "Cast Not Away Therefore Thy Confidence" and "The Inconvenient Messiah," so I figured I had to watch it. 

And wow I'm so glad I did!

 

Amazing. Just amazing.

It's for married and single people alike. There is so much wisdom about love, marriage and relationships in this 37 minute talk!

Do yourself a favor and watch it!

Or click here to download the PDF & mp3 file, so you can read & listen to it at your leisure.

[Highlights]

There were several parts that stood out to me, about how we to love truly and how to look for the type of person that will not belittle us, or hurt us when we give ourselves, vulnerably, to another person. 

"In a dating and courtship relationship, I would not have you spend five minutes with someone who belittles you, who is constantly critical of you, who is cruel at your expense and may even call it humor. Life is tough enough without having the person who is supposed to love you leading the assault on your self-esteem, your sense of dignity, your confidence, and your joy. In this person's care you deserve to feel physically safe and emotionally secure."

He also made reference to the Shakespeare and lessons we can learn there - about love. 

He went on to end with one of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon, in Moroni that speaks of Discipleship, and he answers a question I have thought about from time to time as I have dated. 

"In a final injunction to all his disciples for all time, He said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you" (John 13:34; emphasis added). Of course such Christlike staying power in romance and marriage requires more than any of us really have. It requires something more, an endowment from heaven. Remember Mormon's promise: that such love—the love we each yearn for and cling to—is "bestowed" upon 'true followers of Christ.'

"You want capability, safety, and security in dating and romance, in married life and eternity? Be a true disciple of Jesus. Be a genuine, committed, word-and-deed Latter-day Saint. Believe that your faith has everything to do with your romance, because it does. You separate dating from discipleship at your peril. Or, to phrase that more positively, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is the only lamp by which you can successfully see the path of love and happiness for you and for your sweetheart. How should I love thee? As He does, for that way 'never faileth'."

A little Humor - Mormon Memes

Friends,

I didn't make this Mormon Meme, but it made me laugh! 

If you haven't noticed yet, I post lots of Holland talks and speeches. 

I LOVE Elder Holland 

"However Long and Hard The Road"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Given as a BYU Devotional over 20 years ago!

And as relevant TODAY as it was in January 1983.

"We have before us many, many long months of struggle and suffering. What is our aim? . . . Victory—victory at all costs; victory in spite of all terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be. . . . Conquer we must; as conquer we shall. . . . We shall never surrender." ~ Winston Churchill

Never give up!

 

But how, you ask, do you get this glimpse of the future that helps you to hang on? Well, for me that is one of the great gifts of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not insignificant that early in this life Joseph Smith was taught this lesson three times in the same night and once again the next morning. Moroni said, quoting the Lord verbatim as recorded by the prophet Joel: 

I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 

And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids of those days will I pour out my spirit. [Joel 2:28–29]

Dreaming dreams and seeing visions. The Lord's spirit upon all flesh—sons and daughters, old and young, servants and handmaidens.

For me it's so cool to watch these, but you can also 

read or listen (or download the mp3 for your ipod) of this talk at speeches.byu.edu!

Enjoy! 

"The Labourers in the Vineyard"

By Elder Jeffery R. Holland 

I love Elder Holland! 

It's as if every talk he gives speaks to my soul.

I'm sure you feel the same way! Am I right? 

This one, given in April 2012 General Conference, really helped me understand this parable in the scriptures in a way I never had before! 

What insights & what comfort!

Here is just ONE of my favorite parts...

"My beloved brothers and sisters, what happened in this story at 9:00 or noon or 3:00 is swept up in the grandeur of the universally generous payment at the end of the day. The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours—real or imagined—fall away in the abundance of the final reward. Don’t dwell on old issues or grievances—not toward yourself nor your neighbor nor even, I might add, toward this true and living Church. The majesty of your life, of your neighbor’s life, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made manifest at the last day, even if such majesty is not always recognized by everyone in the early going. So don’t hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening—whatever your labor arrangements have been through the day.

"We consume such precious emotional and spiritual capital clinging tenaciously to the memory of a discordant note we struck in a childhood piano recital, or something a spouse said or did 20 years ago that we are determined to hold over his or her head for another 20, or an incident in Church history that proved no more or less than that mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them. Even if one of those grievances did not originate with you, it can end with you. And what a reward there will be for that contribution when the Lord of the vineyard looks you in the eye and accounts are settled at the end of our earthly day."

   

"Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning. “Come boldly [to] the throne of grace,”³ and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and feast “without money and without price”⁴ at the table of the Lord... 

"I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there." 

What did you feel after seeing this talk? Did you have any new insights?

 Let me know in the comments below!

PS: If you want to read this talk, or just listen or download the mp3, click here. 

"Because of Your Faith"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland 

Warning: Tissues needed

This one may make you cry... in a good way!

If you'd like to be able to read this, click here.

"Remember Lots Wife"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

This was a BYU Devotional given on January 13, 2009.

Just days before I had returned to BYU - after my 2 year break for a mission, so I was SO excited to attend this devotional on the BYU campus. 

I still feel very blessed that I was able to be in the BYU Marriott Center for this speech... LIVE and there in the presence of Elder Holland and his lovely wife. 

I felt like he was talking to me - seriously! But I'm sure everyone there felt the same way. I'm sure YOU will feel that way after you have listened to this talk.

That is the beauty of a leader and a speaker like Elder Holland. He knows how to reach out and touch individuals with his words!

Watch a video recording of this talk below (35 mins)


It's also available on speeches.byu.edu in several formats - PDF, mp3 and html for you to download for free. 

Highlights:

It's ALL good, but to me the story he tells at the end, about being a student and sometimes wanting to give up and going through so many hard things, I could really relate to that. 

One of my favorite things he said was at the end...

"To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. 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.”

Please let me know what YOU thought - what your favorite part of this talk was - in the comments below!

Enjoy.

"Lessons from Liberty Jail"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

This was a CES fireside and broadcast on September 7, 2008. 

I had just come home from my mission and this really hit home for me. I remember sitting in the Bellville Chapel in Cape Town, South Africa with other Young Single Adults (YSA). 

It talks about how challenges can really be very sacred experiences!

"You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in any situation you are in—just as Joseph received beautiful, comforting revelation in the "prison-temple" of Liberty Jail."

Watch it below (53:39 mins)

I love the archives of speeches.byu.edu

There you can download a PDF or mp3 file of this speech, so you can read or listen to it. 

I really love audio files because I can put it on my ipod or computer - on my mission I had several talks on CD - and then listen to it whenever I need inspiration or hope or comfort!

It's so nice to listen to them speak - you get all the passion, emotions & emphasis that he intended and delivered it with!

That being said... there is also something wonderful about reading a talk like this - you can go through it slowly & really think about some of the powerful ideas and highlight, mark and write notes. I love that too!

So, you have your pick here of 3 versions!

It's available to read online at lds.org too.

"Cast Not Away Therefore Thou Confidence"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

I heard this talk on my mission in 2007. 

I was going through a hard time at that stage and this REALLY changed my thought pattern and as cliche as it sounds - it changed my mission and my life!

I've listened to it probably over a dozen times and I've sent it to tons of friends!
"It is the plain and very sobering truth that before great moments, certainly before great spiritual moments, there can come adversity, opposition, and darkness. Life has some of those moments for us, and occasionally they come just as we are approaching an important decision or a significant step in our life." ~ Elder Holland

 

"Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise... If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. . . We are not of them who draw back unto perdition." [Hebrews 10:35–36, 38–39; emphasis added]

Click here to read this talk and or download the PDF or the mp3. 

"The Inconvenient Messiah"

by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

This talk changed my life, it was a big eye opener and I was very encouraged by it. 

Elder Holland is very direct and powerful in this epic talk! I highly recommend that people listen to this. It's truly life changing!

This is a MUST read for every member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

The scripture in Alma 38:12 comes to mind: 

"Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love..."

Click below to download this talk:
Read: PDF ; HTML
Listen: Audio/Podcast