Tonight I was able to go see Elder Holland speak. It was wonderful. I loved to watch him as the other speakers spoke-he looked at them with such love and compassion. When he got up and started to speak he set his scriptures in front of him. He talked about how much he loved all of us. He talked about the trying times we are in. He talked about how we all have refiners fire that we go through.
He gave us three pieces of hope and advice for the holiday season.
-God loves broken things. I love this-he said Broken rain nourishes the ground, broken ground grows wheat, broken wheat makes bread, broken bread nourishes us.
Before the savior atoned for our sins people were asked to sacrifice a burnt offering. After he fulfilled the law of Moses he then asked for our broken heart and contrite spirit.
-God fixes broken things.
This life is hard, we have to do hard things. We don't just give lip service any more (burnt offerings) instead it is a little closer to home, to say "This trial in my life is hard-but my broken heart is all I have to give." He said every heart ache can be fixed by our saviors love.
-In the middle of the storm hunker down-shut up and stay in the boat with the master at the helm.
After he said "Shut up" he did apologize and say that he probably shouldn't have said it. :) He went on to explain that when life gets hard, most people want to give up or pull out. When in all actuality we should be hunkering down and waiting for the storm to pass.
There was a sweet moment in his talk when he started to read Marks version of the storm. He pointed out that it said the Savior slept on a pillow. Elder Holland broke down and cried and said he was grateful that this tired savior was afforded the small comfort of a pillow. You really got an idea how much he loved the Savior. He also talked a little about how he wished the apostles would have let him sleep. And it was interesting to compare him a modern apostle to the apostles at the time of the Savior. He must have understood what those apostles went through.
I wondered if he has ever been in a time of tumultuous storm, when it looked as though he wouldn't survive and "woke" the savior later to receive a reproach from the Savior-Why are you afraid?
Again I was grateful to be taught.
I love the Lord
