You NEVER Check Your Religion At the Door!

NOT EVER!

So Elder Holland is pretty much the man.
He's amazing.
He gave a CES fireside tonight and boy, was it good.

It's always good. Elder Holland is one of my very favorites. I can't remember exactly which talk it was that changed my life and always made me remember him. I'm pretty sure it was his Book of Mormon talk. So much power in his testimony, such a great example. Something he said in his talk changed my life forever. I was in the stage of deciding whether or not I wanted the church in my life (if you can believe that.) So when I heard these words, it really got me thinking, "Am I in this or not? Am I going to serve the Lord or not? Am I going to declare what I know? Or let it all go to waste pretending it isn't true?" He said this:

"I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world … that the Book of Mormon is true."

Boom.
That was it.
That's all it took.
And ever since that moment, Elder Holland has always been my favorite. Every single talk he has ever given, has changed me for the better. I'm so grateful for him, his example, love and kindness and his guidance and how crazy in-tune with the Spirit he is.

So, one day (a year later) I decided to write him a letter. I got his address and wrote him a quick letter about the events that had been happening in my life this past year, (losing Andy, heartbreak, running, church, happiness, sadness, life, finishing the BOM, graduating, etc.) and told him how grateful I was to him, for changing my life. For giving me hope and encouragement to keep moving forward. And one Sunday, my roommate Katie texted me and said I had a special letter waiting for me when I got home from Church. I was beyond excited, when I got home, I looked at it, seeing it was from the church and immediately assumed it was something to do with my ward; aka-nothing important. But I turned the envelope over and it said, "From the Office of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland" and I about pee'd my pants!! Could this be true? Could this be real? So I opened it up, and this was inside:

Shut the front door. This is handwritten from Elder Holland. Basically one of my prized possessions. Hahahaha, silly I know. Anyway, I have it hanging up to see always.

One last thing before I finish this loooooong blog post.
There's this quote, from one of his AMAZING talks that I live by. That my best friend Ashley and I live by. I have it hanging up on my wall so I see it every day when I wake up. It's what gets me through. It's what keeps me going when I want to give up.

“Don't you quit. You keep walking, you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead. Some blessings come soon. Some come late. Some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in Good Things to Come.”

And there it is ladies and gents. Whenever I'm going through a hard time, I just think of that first line. I usually text Ashley and say, "Tell me I can't quit. I can't. Elder Holland said I can't quit. I have to keep going." And then she'll recite the quote to me, and we'll talk for a bit about how I can keep going. Hahaha it's kind of become our thing, our quote. Which I love. I love that her and I share the same love and admiration towards Elder Holland. Makes conference time fun!

Anyway, I wrote him another letter last year thanking him for this quote. Telling him how much it has changed my life and how important it is to me. It was a short, but sweet thank you note. I'm pretty much into writing the general authorities. Ask anyone. But I do it because they deserve to know that what they're doing is changing lives, and that we are truly grateful for them, as members of this Church. And one day, a package showed up at my door. From the officer of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. I again, about pee'd my pants. And inside was this beautiful book. And of course, I already had my own copy but seeing a second copy from him was amazing, and I just started bawling when I saw this:

I literally started bawling.
The tears would not stop coming.

He's so amazing.
To take time out of his day,
and mail this to me, when I wasn't expecting ANYTHING in return.
To know that the Lord blesses us with leaders who truly are watching over us and think of us often. They are doing all they can to take care of our every single need. Oh how I treasure these things.

And finally, his CES fireside talk. It isn't online yet, just the video. But I highly recommend you watch it. The famous line is the title of this blog post. He talks of judgement, being a better person, a better example, accepting those around us, and standing for what we believe in. Not "checking our religion at the door." - and as always, says it so powerfully, and loud that it just gives you goose bumps.

I'm so grateful for this gospel, and for Elder Holland and all that he teaches.
Who's excited for conference??
ME!!!!!!
:]