Elder Jeffrey R. Holland visits for my Birthday

Wow, what an unexpected birthday present! Well, first, let me back up. Yesterday was my birthday, somewhat uneventful, we had thought to go see a concert (Matisyahu was playing in Atlanta), but we decided that we needed to go shopping and to dinner instead, the kids had an overnight birthday party to attend, so it worked out nicely.
Melinda got some new Danskos and we both got some new Smartwools. Woooo-hoooo!!!!! Right? Yeah, I know, we really get crazy when we go out for a birthday (actually, Melinda's birthday was last week and our 12th anniversary was in between our birthdays, so we were kinda celebrating all of the above)... we had dinner @ Ted's Montana Grill ( www.tedsmontanagrill.com ) it was actually way more casual, and way more enjoyable than expected. My Bison pot roast was great, but looking back, I wish I would've tried the Bison Filet or prime rib/ribeye. Melinda had cow (beef tenderloin) for dinner and it was good too. It was an enjoyable night with exceptional company and conversation.
So, back to Elder Holland, (click on the video to hear and see Elder Holland's testimony, for more about the living Twelve Apostles, go to www.lds.org or www.mormon.org or ask an LDS friend)
Well, we were to have an "impromptu" Stake Conference of sorts this weekend... again, if you're a non-member friend, just ask, I'll fill you in... Stake (like stakes of a tent) Conference is a meeting of the congregations of many local LDS churches under a local presiding presidency, it happens twice yearly...
So anyway, our Stake (the Cartersville Stake), is relatively new and we have yet to build a Stake Center to meet in, so we have borrowed our neighboring Stake Center in Powder Springs in the past for the purpose of our Stake Conferences. We have also utilized the larger of our buildings in our stake, Mars Hill (Acworth/Dallas-ish) for this purpose as well. The funny thing about this is that coming from Cartersville, you typically drive to both buildings in the same route, on the same road, only Mars Hill is about 6 or so miles North of the Powder Springs building and it's off the main road a little. The reason this is funny today is because neither Melinda nor I could remember which building we were to meet in. We knew that Elder D. Todd Christofferson (another Apostle) was supposed to be presiding over our meeting, so we figured that it would be big, so we just drove past the turn for Mars Hill building and went on down to the larger Powder Springs building, where we saw folks filling the parking lot of the high school football stadium just up the street and figured we were there. I dropped Melinda and the boys at the church, then went and parked the car where I was picked up by the shuttle service that was being provided by the ushers.
When I got inside, I realized that I had missed the opening prayer and the opening song and Stake business. The first speaker was already speaking, then song, followed by the out-going Mission President (apparently we have a new Mission Pres.), then a song, then the "Stake President"... only it wasn't OUR Stake President... (BTW, we were now sitting in an overflow room watching on a monitor), so I'm turning to Melinda asking... "Did President Giddens get released?" She just shrugs, so we sit and listen.
It IS a very spiritual meeting at this point, but it did seem to be moving right along and not quite a typical Stake Conference, and no other affiliated meetings on Saturday and whatnot. So, the next speaker turns out to be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and there's no sign of Christofferson, come to think of it, we had yet to see a familiar face from our Stake either.
Elder Holland's talk was awesome! He was very candid and informal to start, he made some jokes and seemed very personable. He explained that this "impromptu" visit was not to "announce the date of the coming of the Lord, or anything great and marvelous as that", but was an attempt of the General Authorities to get out and see the Saints and be seen by them... (turns out that he was traveling with Elder Chistofferson, Elder Snow-- Quorum of Seventy, and maybe some others)... So, the visiting G.A.'s met on Saturday with all of the Atlanta and surrounding area Stake Presidents and Bishops/Branch Presidents. And Each met with a different Stake or two today... (Ah,Ha!!!)... Turns out that Christofferson was, in fact, at the Mars Hill building meeting with OUR (Cartersville) Stake and WE (Bedwells) were, in fact, attending the Powder Springs' "impromptu" Stake Conference and Elder Snow would be at another Stake holding a similar meeting... They were in Canada just a couple weeks ago, and will be in New York next week, and so on and so forth, going about the country (and assumingly other GA's doing the same thing), until after General Conference in April, then they will be going out of the States doing the same...

No wonder we hadn't seen a familiar face yet (well, we recognized the Mission Pres, and of course, Elder Holland). I've yet to find out the message of Elder Christofferson, but let me get back to Elder Holland's Talk. As I mentioned, he started out on a light note, but soon became very serious and began to address the youth specifically. He requested the attention of young men and young women from the ages of 12 to 22 and spoke directly to them. He relayed some experiences which he had to be near Presidents Hinkley and Hunter in the latter parts of their lives and he spoke of President Monson as well. He mentioned that the Thursday before Pres. Hinkley died, he conducted meetings in a typical fashion, ALL DAY LONG (as usual) with members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of Twelve in the 4th floor of the Salt Lake Temple. He emphasized that not only was this a few days before his death, but that it was also a few months before his 98th birthday. He really drove the point that President Hinkley and the Prophets before him as well as the "young" President Monson (81 y/o) had more or less lived their lives to the fullest, and had for decades, dedicated their lives to the Lord's work and on some level had possibly/assumingly secured their places in Heaven. (He kinda apologized for saying such and stated that none of the Prophets would agree or actually feel that way, it just was the point that he was leading up to)... His point was that these men, in the twilight of their lives, were still working as hard or harder for the building up of the Lord's Kingdom on Earth. "There is no 'Palm Springs' for Prophets" he said. Speaking of President Hinkley he said that if you were to give him a Golf Club, he wouldn't know what to do with it. "He would probably think it was some kind of device to beat a missionary upside the head with... you know, motivation" ...
His point was that these leaders could've and can easily justify "retiring" at this time in there lives and that their counterparts in the world, in business and otherwise, were typically well on their way to their "Palm Springs" by this age. He asked "Why".(regarding the Prophets). Why would they feel the need to press on? His answer was: (and if you see a quote on my blog, please note that it is STRICTLY a paraphrase), his answer was: "Not for themselves, it was never about themselves, it's always been for you." (speaking to the youth, which involves us all, obviously, but specifically the youth). He continued to drive the point that they were doing a selfless work and their dedication was without measure. He called this work and dedication an "investment". And that he wished to talk to the youth about a return on this investment. He mentioned some statistics about what age people fall away from the Church and that, overwhelmingly, it has always been sons and, more recently, daughters of members who fall away in their teens and early 20's. Those who return, usually don't return until later in life.
After some expounding on things mentioned above, Elder Holland asked the youth ages 12 to 22 and those who would soon be 12 to commit to paying a return on their leaders' investments. The investments of all their leaders, the young women's president, the Sunday school teacher, the Bishops and Stake Presidents, and so on. He explained that this "return" or "interest" would be in the form of tithing. He said "not 'Tithing' tithing, you pay that to your bishop, he can deal with that", but the tithing he was talking about was 1/10th of the youth's life. "Let's say you live to 100, then 1/10th would be 10 years." That's why he said that he was talking to the 12-22 y/o's. Because that's the age of the biggest falling away. He asked the youth of Powder Springs to fully commit to living the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to commit this day, to pay the spiritual tithing for the next 10 years of their lives. "Go on a mission, uphold the standards, read and learn the scriptures, cherish virtue and morality, share the gospel..."
It was one of the more spiritual experiences that I've had in a while. I would call it inspiring and invigorating. Elder Holland went on to promise the blessings of the Lord if they(we) would but do this. He had a lot more to say, and it was very spiritual, but I'm sure that you're about tired of reading this so I'll have to tell you about it in another post.
Anyways, living in the South, it's not often that you get to attend a meeting with an ordained Apostle of the Lord, a Living Prophet. I'm pretty stoked right now and have decided that it's definitely one of my favorite Birthday Presents.
We stood in line for a while in hopes to shake hands and thank Elder Holland for the visit, but it looked to be a very long wait and we did get close enough to see him, but we figured that we'd come on home, so we did.
The messages we heard today were definitely needed, I feel like I've been fed and led. I'm sure I would feel the same way if we had attended our own Stake's meeting with Elder Christofferson and I'm anxious to hear what messages were shared in that meeting, but as of now, I'm just glad that I didn't sleep in like my body wanted me to.
BTW, I know that Elder Holland, Christofferson and the gang are truly Apostles and Prophets of the living Lord Jesus Christ. I also know that Thomas S. Monson is not only the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but he is also a Prophet, Seer and Revelator with all the keys and authority like unto Moses, Noah, Alma, Nephi, Isaiah,Joseph Smith all those mentioned in the Scriptures. That is my testimony to you, the reader, which I bare in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Oh yeah, just in case you didn't click on it, go back up and click on the embedded video of Elder Holland's Testimony of Jesus Christ. It's good.
That's all for now, and thanks for reading.
Scott