Interesting Remarks by Elder Holland at the Dallas Stake Conference, 10 Feb 2019

 

I would like to preface this post by stating that all remarks by General Authorities at a Stake Conference are meant especially for those present, and following their counsel I have not recorded any of Elder Holland’s address besides the notes I was able to write down as I listened to an Apostle of the Lord. These few remarks, stripped from the rest of his address to the Dallas Stake, I believe can be helpful for some, and in that spirit I would like to share these few. Any mistakes in writing the quotations are strictly mine alone.

It was, as it would turn out, two weeks before I returned home from my Mission when I was able to see Elder Holland again (having previously visited our Mission a few months prior). Much of what he said was deeply significant for me considering the health challenges that I was going through then and that I am still going through now. I can never forget the words of counsel he offered as though I was the only one person in the room.

At one point during the Stake Conference, he said something that stood out to me regarding the translation of the Book of Mormon that I tried writing down his quote to the best of my ability as he continued to speak (and filled in to the best of my memory when words like ‘and’ or ‘since’ were quickly scribbled to catch the rest of the message).

He brought up the myriad of sources and information we now have at our fingertips compared to the past few decades. On that note, he said:

[Responding to questions about “new” or, more accurately, rediscovered documents regarding seer stones,] Am I shocked about the seer stone witnesses? No! And I don’t think anyone should be, since it was done by the gift and power of God.

He then made remarks about how Joseph had never made any statements on his translation method, and how blessed we were to have additional witnesses come forward who saw firsthand Joseph translate the gold plates.

Following those remarks, he said:

If I learn that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by riding a unicycle uphill and playing Bob Dillon’s harmonica, I would still believe it, if it was done by God Almighty’s power. If you want to make me disbelieve the translation or any account thereof, you have to give me something better to believe instead.

Near the conclusion of his remarks, he again testified of the divinity and truth of the Book of Mormon and the translation thereof, testifying again that even with a seer stone being the translation instrument, the Book of Mormon came about dictated under pure inspiration from heaven.

While there remains a lot none of us know about the deepest and most beautiful truths of the gospel that are hidden away in the annals of the "yet to be reveled" (including the mechanics of the translation of the Book of Mormon), we don't need to let questions such as the mechanics of the translation bother us too much (see Article of Faith #9). God, an all-powerful being, can cause to be whatsoever He wills, and if He were to speak by means of a seer stone (whether or not that stone was wrapped in silver bows), He could do it, just as He can answer your questions through the manner by which you are accustomed to communing with Deity.

As Elder Holland closed in paraphrasing D&C 121:33 that day, I find it a fitting verse to close this post on:

What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.