Apostle Jeffery R. Holland gives devotional at MTC

Chase wrote (8/31/11)... Last night we had Apostle Holland come and speak to us at our weekly devotional.  It was amazing! 

Our Church has13 basic statements about what we believe called the "Articles of Faith" (Go to Mormon.org to view all 13 statements.)  The following is #6. 
"We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."
-Article of Faith #6

Apostle Jeffery R. Holland
- one of the twelve apostles
(also known as Elder Holland)

...Ok, I will now tell you about Apostle Holland's talk. So we went to dinner and President Brown, the MTC President sat next to us. It ends up he used to be the Chicago Mission President and he remembers meeting Dad and also knew Bishop Black and President Peterson. It was cool to hear about how much he loves Naperville. So we kept talking and he ended up knowing our intire family that lives in Conneticut and Boston. It was really cool. He promised to call President Peterson and say hi for me. But anyways  So while we were talking he asked us what time we were going to the devotional, and we said as early as we could because we want to get good seats. Then he winked at us and said "If I was you I'd get there early too." So after that we pretty much ran to the devotional got amazing seats and were all throwing around guesses as to who it would be. Then Elder Holland walked in. I honestly wish I could tell you in words about the Spirit that entered the room when he walked through the doors. I think it almost knocked me over. He talked about us about how our missions need to change our lives. This was my favorite quote "Nothing bounces me off walls, off ceilings, off the lights, destroying property as I go than a young man or women who comes home and doesn't know what he's been doing for the past 2 or 1.5 years." He got really emotional about his mission and how it meant everything to him. Then he had five questions that President Brown got from missionaries to ask him. It was so cool. And don't worry I took like 4 pages of notes and I had to transcribe them into my journal because I don't think my pen left the page. It was incredible. I can't wait to show you guys when I get back.

My favorite part of his talk was when he answered the question Why does God love us. He said "I'm not perfect but the place I come the closest is my love for my children. There is nothing they could ask for that I would do." Then he talked about Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and how he cried out for Abba. I always thought Abba meant "all powerful" or "great father" but he said that the closest word in the English language is "Daddy." That hit me so hard. Because we always use the most formal words while praying but Christ who obviously had a different relationship with our father in heaven called out for daddy. It was so cool, I hope my writing it gives you a little bit of a sense of the way I felt.