At RootsTech 2025, the world’s largest genealogy conference, hosted by FamilySearch International and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Day Saints, President Jeffrey R. Holland shared two lessons he learned from a near-death experience.
“For four weeks, I was somewhere with a foot in another world,” President Holland explained. The Apostle says that during this time, he received admonitions that he was “in effect, told to take back to the Church.”
He touched on these principles in his April 2024 conference talk and shared more details in his heartfelt RootsTech comments.
1. Pray Always
The first lesson President Holland spoke about was to pray more frequently and meaningfully. He said:
“I thought I prayed all the time, more or less. But the lesson was, ‘Pray more than you pray.’ However much you’ve prayed, pray more. And in however many places you’ve prayed, pray in more places. However many times during the day you pray, pray more times in the day.
“And it started to give meaning to me, an overwhelming meaning to me that … it was quite literal when God had said, ‘pray always.’”
2. Testify of Christ More Often
Additionally, President Holland says he was taught the urgency and importance of testifying of Christ.
“The other lesson was to testify, to be a witness,” he shared. “However much you testify, testify more. … That’s not an invitation I knew I’d have, but I care very much about it.”
President Holland’s sincerity and commitment to acting on these lessons is apparent in how he teaches and lives his life today. As Elder Neil L. Andersen commented during the RootsTech event, “President, you have taught our Quorum a lot about prayer, even all of us who pray very much and constantly.”
President Holland believes these principles reflect the way the Lord’s work is hastening. He testified of how following the Savior has transformed his life, sharing:
“I was born in 1940, and now we’re in 2025—that’s a good life and nearly over—and it is dramatically different. It is inexorably different. It is as different as life could be, even having been born into the Church.
“It is just so significantly shaped by the Savior that I can’t really tell you the difference in that 85 years. It means everything to me. And the work is hastening. The work is moving.”
Watch President Holland’s full remarks in the player below.
More articles for you:
▶ 2 thought-provoking Greek words shared by Pres. Nelson
▶ Elder Andersen’s sweet advice to a young father fearing his children will leave the Church
▶ Why this Latter-day Saint stands out in the largest opera house in the world
