“Miracles exist,” Latter-day Saint apostle Jeffrey R. Holland emphatically declared to an arena full of 7,000 church members in the Dominican Republic a year after a devastating illness nearly claimed his life.
It was the 83-year-old apostle’s first trip abroad since his wife’s death and his own health scare in 2023.
The fact that he was unconscious for a month and nearly died is evidence, Holland said, that “there are still miracles in [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints],” he told young people in the Dominican Republic, according to a news release. “The miracle that I represent in the restoration of my life is as real as any miracle in the Old Testament or the New Testament or the Doctrine and Covenants or the Book of Mormon.”
Holland’s health journey
The popular apostle has struggled with health issues on and off since June 2020, when he was hospitalized to undergo diagnostic tests for an undisclosed illness not related to COVID-19.
He bounced back, thanks to what he termed a “miraculous” recovery. In spring 2021, during a video appearance for a family history conference, the apostle used a walker after a previous illness had left him with numbness in his legs.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland teaches lay leaders of the church in the Caribbean on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, during his visit to the Dominican Republic.
In April 2023, Holland was temporarily excused from his duties as an apostle as he underwent kidney dialysis, and he and his wife, Pat, suffered from the effects of COVID-19.
Then came the dramatic episode in September 2023, when he faced his most severe challenge yet. How sick was Holland during his extended hospital stay last summer?
“Adrenaline-like drugs were being used to support his circulation. He was virtually nonresponsive,” apostle Dale Renlund, a cardiologist by profession, explained in an Instagram post. “The physicians didn’t know exactly what was wrong and had informed his children that the prognosis was extremely poor.”
‘Cycles of life’
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland presides at a multistake conference, where nearly 7,000 members and friends of the faith came to the Carlos Teo Cruz Colosseum, and more than 12,000 joined via a broadcast, during his visit to the Dominican Republic on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024.
Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, now has a clearer perspective on such conditions, he told the assembled believers in the Dominican Republic.
“It takes broken clouds to nourish the earth. It takes broken ground to grow grain. It takes broken grain to make bread. It takes broken bread to nourish and feed us,” he said. “These are the cycles of life. We need to have faith through the difficult times — it’s part of the plan.”
The apostle, who will turn 84 on Dec. 3, then urged Latter-day Saints to focus on their personal relationships.
“Live the gospel, see it through,” he said, “and broken things will be mended through the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holl gives a Book of Mormon to renowned journalist Fausto Rosario of Acent after the reporter interviewed Holland during his visit to the Dominican Republic on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.
Holland was joined on his trip to the Caribbean by fellow apostle Ronald A. Rasband, who urged members in the Dominican Republic to heed God’s teachings and adhere to the faith’s family proclamation.
“Striving together as parents and families will make us happy,” Rasband said in the release. “As you keep the commandments of God, you will be blessed and prospered in your life.”
