Elder Holland

Elder Holland came to speak to our stake in March.  It was SO neat to have him come!  The kids were so excited to hear a prophet speak to us.

The meeting started at 9am.  Jennifer and Spencer had come the day before, so we needed spots for the 5 of us, plus them.  They announced many times that there were no saving seats!  So we left the house at 7:20, got there about 7:35, and got the middle section of a bench in the middle.  We got the last 'large' section, and it was seven rows back and centered!

Since we had an hour and a half until the meeting started, we brought all the church bag toys we had.  Jennifer and Spencer had Jared the whole meeting- we didn't even seen him really.  It is so nice having an aunt and uncle around!  The kids were so good and played and colored until the meeting started.  The Chapel was full by 7:50, with a few stragglers trying to squeeze in.  Just before 9:00, Elder Holland came in.  So exciting!  Since we were center and Zach was on my lap a few times, I saw him look at us :)  The meeting was 2 hours, and the kids were basically silent the whole time.  It was such a great meeting!

John has the talk recorded, so when I'm home I will type it out.  Elder Holland started off by talking about the area, since he used to work in Hayward at the Institute there.  Then he got into the Bible and spoke about the Apostles after Jesus had died.  He went to the story of the lame man who was begging outside of the temple, and how two apostles came up to him.  The man was hoping for one coin or MAYBE even two coins!  But instead, Peter healed him, and the man was able to walk.  He then went on about how many people gathered and were amazed by this miracle.  This brought about two reactions- one was Peter; who was angry that the crowd was so excited by the miracle after just crucifying the Savior.  The other reaction was by the pharisees, who wanted the crowd to disperse and pay no attention to what had happened.  Elder Holland then went back to the lame man, and this is the part I like the most.  That man was hoping for one coin, and maybe two.  His wildest dreams would be something crazy, like ten coins!  He could not even fathom getting the use of his legs.  For the first time in 40 years he had been alive, he got to use his legs!  Elder Holland said that that is how we are- we do not even begin to understand what else is in store for us.  He pointed to a new convert and told him that he hasn't seen anything yet.  That none of us have seen anything yet.  We can't even begin to realize what is in store for us.  What a great thing to think on.