Jeffrey R. Holland

Jeffrey R. Holland

1940–2025 (85 years)

Hometown: St George, Utah

Biography

Jeffrey R. Holland was an apostle from 1994 until his death in December 2025. A great-great-grandson of early apostle Parley P. Pratt, Holland was born in St. George, Utah, and had a distinguished academic career, including serving as president of BYU (1980-1989) before his calling as a general authority.

Holland was known for his powerful, emotional speaking style. His general conference talks often went viral, including his defense of the Book of Mormon (“Safety for the Soul”) and his tributes to mothers. He was perhaps the most quoted modern apostle on social media.

His 2015 talk addressing LGBTQ+ issues and a 2021 speech at BYU criticizing the school’s tolerance of same-sex relationships generated controversy. He was seen as more approachable than some colleagues but maintained traditional positions on church teachings.

Holland openly discussed his struggles with depression, becoming one of the first apostles to speak candidly about mental health, which endeared him to many members facing similar challenges.

He authored numerous books on gospel topics and served as commissioner of Church Education before his apostleship. His death in 2025 after battling health problems ended 31 years of apostolic service.

Served Under

Church presidents during this leader's apostolic service:

Howard W. Hunter
Howard W. Hunter
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Thomas S. Monson
Thomas S. Monson
Russell M. Nelson
Russell M. Nelson
Dallin H. Oaks
Dallin H. Oaks

Wives (1)

Marriage Timeline

1 wives · Lifespan: 1940–2025

Patricia Terry
1963–2023 (60 yrs)
1940 (born) 1961 1982 2003 2025 (died)
Wife
#NameBornDiedMarriedHer AgeHis AgeAge DiffChildren
1
Patricia Terry Patricia Terry
Feb 16, 1942Jul 20, 2023 c. Jun 6, 1963 c. 212210

Posts Related to Jeffrey R. Holland

Images Related to Jeffrey R. Holland

"I had a missionary ask me once if I would give my life for the Church. I said, “Elder, I am giving my life for the Church.” I know what he meant. What he meant was, “Would you die for it?” Well, that’s the easy part. That’s a snap! On some days it looks really appealing. That’s the easy part, to die for it. Well, what God needs is people who will live for it, people who will go the distance, people who are in this race we’re talking about that will go all the way to the tape. And some may die along the way and that’s wonderful, but He needs people who will finish the work." - Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Apostle | MTC Fireside, January 2001 | wasmormon.org "We want you to run all the way, every day, every step until this is over. To give the Lord a full 24-month or 18-month mission, for your sake, for the church’s sake, for integrity’s sake, for the prophet’s sake... We don’t want you to ruin your health. We just want two years from you. We just want 18 months from you. So start now. Just don’t look back. Just put your face to the sun and put your shoulder into this work, and give it everything you’ve got and savor every day." - Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Apostle | MTC Fireside, January 2001 | wasmormon.org "If there is anyone in the room who’s struggling with a testimony, you have one — mine! I’m giving my life to this. You’re giving two years. I’m giving my life! Everything I own, everything I possess is on the line. I would not come tell you a fairy tale. I wouldn’t wear myself into the ground, nor would President Hinckley do the same for something we did not know beyond a shadow of a doubt was God’s almighty truth! Give me a little more credit than that! I’m not an absolutely stupid man. This is the truth! And I’m giving everything that I know to give for that declaration." - Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Apostle | MTC Fireside, January 2001 | wasmormon.org Now if anyone wants to go home, talk to me. I will not let you! I will throw my life before the barred door. I have chains in every room. I have skyhooks and cables. I have things you’ve never seen before. If you think President Palmer’s tough on you, you haven’t seen anything yet! If you have any feeling about going home, you cannot. You must not... I would do anything to keep a missionary in the mission field. I would hang on, I would grab your leg, I would twist your ankle, I would put a full nelson and a judo chop, and whatever it takes. I would make an absolute fool out of myself, which is about what I’m describing, just to have you know how much it matters. - Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Apostle | MTC Fireside, January 2001 | wasmormon.org "Some things in life we have little or no control over. These have to be endured. Some disappointments have to be lived with in love and in marriage. These are not things anyone wants in life, but sometimes they come. And when they come, we have to bear them." - LDS Apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional 2000 | wasmormon.org "Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional 2000 | wasmormon.org "Do we simply end up with more divisiveness in our culture than we already have? And we already have far too much everywhere. ... Musket fire? Yes, we will always need defenders of the faith" - Elder Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle 2021 | wasmormon.org "My Brethren have made the case for the metaphor of musket fire, which I have endorsed yet again today." - Elder Jeffrey R Holland, 2021 | wasmormon.org "Musket fire? Yes, we will always need defenders of the faith, but “friendly fire” is a tragedy—and from time to time the Church, its leaders, and some of our colleagues within the university community have taken such fire on this campus. And sometimes it isn’t friendly, wounding students and the parents of students—so many who are confused about what so much recent flag-waving and parade-holding on this issue means." - Elder Jeffrey R Holland, 2021 | wasmormon.org "We just don't know, in the historical context of the time, why it was practiced. That's my principal [concern], is that we don't perpetuate explanations about things we don't know. We don't pretend that something wasn't taught or practice wasn't pursued for whatever reason. But I think we can be unequivocal and we can be declarative in our current literature, in books that we reproduce, in teachings that go forward, whatever, that from this time forward, from 1978 forward, we can make sure that nothing of that is declared." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org "Some of the folklore that you must be referring to are suggestions that there were decisions made in the pre-mortal councils where someone had not been as decisive in their loyalty to a Gospel plan or the procedures on earth or what was to unfold in mortality, and that therefore that opportunity and mortality was compromised. I really don't know a lot of the details of those, because fortunately I've been able to live in the period where we're not expressing or teaching them, but I think that's the one I grew up hearing the most, was that it was something to do with the pre-mortal councils." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org "One clear-cut position is that the folklore must never be perpetuated. I have to concede to my earlier colleagues. They, I'm sure, in their own way, were doing the best they knew to give shape to [the policy], to give context for it, to give even history to it. All I can say is however well intended the explanations were, I think almost all of them were inadequate and/or wrong." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org "It probably would have been advantageous to say nothing, to say we just don't know, and, [as] with many religious matters, whatever was being done was done on the basis of faith at that time. But some explanations were given and had been given for a lot of years. At the very least, there should be no effort to perpetuate those efforts to explain why that doctrine existed. I think, to the extent that I know anything about it, as one of the newer and younger ones to come along, we simply do not know why that practice, that policy, that doctrine was in place." - PBS: The Mormons. Elder Jeffrey R Holland Interview, March 4, 2006 | wasmormon.org "From the mid-1800s, the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to the priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances. Over the years, a variety of theories were advanced to justify the restriction. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has emphasized that those theories given in an attempt to explain the restrictions are “folklore” that must never be perpetuated: “However well-intended the explanations were, I think almost all of them were inadequate and/or wrong... We simply do not know why that practice… was in place.”" - Commemorating the 1978 Revelation, Extending the Blessings of the Priesthood Ensign, June 2018 | wasmormon.org "If he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit." - Elder Jeffrey R Holland, Going on a Mormon Truth Hunt "If he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit." - Elder Jeffrey R Holland | wasmormon.org "I don’t know whether furious is a good apostolic word. But I am. What on earth kind of conviction is that? What kind of patty-cake, taffy-pulled experiences is that? As if, as if none of this ever mattered; as if nothing in our contemporary life mattered; as if this was all JUST SUPPOSED to be JUST EXACTLY the way I want it?" Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle - wasmormon.org "This church means everything to me. Everything. I don’t care what happens; I don’t care what price has to be paid, as painful as that can be; and as much as I don’t want to invite the test as much as I don’t want to sound arrogant, or self-confident, or filled with any kind of pride other than the love of the Lord – this church means everything to me. And I’m NOT going to leave it. And I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU LEAVE IT." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle - wasmormon.org "Don’t you dare bail. I am so furious with people who leave this church." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle - wasmormon.org Like many religions that evolved in isolation from significant predators, the dodo was entirely fearless of the internet. This fearlessness and its inability to reveal made the dodo easy prey for scholars. "I'm not an idiot, you know, I've read a couple of books and I've been to a pretty good school." Elder Jeffrey R Holland the Dodo. "We do not have penalties in the Temple. We used to. (Therefore, he swore an oath saying, 'I will not tell anyone about the secrets here lest I slit my throat.') The vow was regarding the ordinance of the Temple. It's comparable, similar to a masonic, relationship." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle "If people want to call us a cult, they can call us a cult, and you can call us a cult. But we are 14 million and growing, and I'd like to think that your respect for me would be enough to know that this man doesn't seem like a dodo." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle "If that's what they believe, it's probably a good thing they chose to leave it. Because we're not a cult. I'm not an idiot. You know, I've read a couple of books, and been to a pretty good school." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle (As a record of historical fact, was Joseph Smith convicted of being a con-man in 1826?) I have no idea. There's a good deal of difficulty in the early frontier life in America, but that's an incidental matter to the character and integrity of the man. - Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle "What got translated, got translated into the word of God. The vehicle for that, I do not understand, and don't claim to know, and know no Egyptian." Jeffrey R Holland, Mormon Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland