Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING NEWS: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Admitted to the Hospital

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Wednesday, June 17, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Admitted to the Hospital

Hello again, everyone! I am still working on fleshing out my previous brief post about the rescheduling of the rededication for the Washington D.C. Temple, but additional breaking news has been shared by the Church. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who is the youngest of the 3 apostles born in 1940, has been admitted to the hospital. Doctors tested Elder Holland for COVID-19, with a negative result. Other tests are being run at the present time. As I have previously mentioned, my family has a double connection to Elder Holland. My dad's dad was his home teaching companion at the time young Jeff was a teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. And my mom worked for Elder Holland during his tenure as Commissioner of Church Education, during which time she was one of many freelance proofreaders assigned to work on Church materials.

The strange thing is that Elder Holland is younger than Presidents Nelson, Oaks, Ballard, and Eyring, as well as being younger than Elders Cook and Uchtdorf, so for him to be dealing with some unknown something that is taking a while to figure out is somewhat unusual. From the wording of the news release, it is unclear whether he is still hospitalized. But hopefully whatever's going on with him will be figured out soon. At this point in time, Elder Holland's condition is surely a worry for all, particularly his fellow apostles, and specifically President Nelson, who has been the longtime apostolic physician who has always been concerned about the health of his Brethren. So I'm sure any prayers we can send heavenward for Elder Holland would be the best way we can help in this situation. For myself, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of those along to you all as I learn about such things.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

4 comments:

  1. Hello again, everyone! In the last 24 hours or so since my latest posted content, a few developments have been reported in the Church News. First, the Church News collected selected quotes from top leaders of the Church in the lead-up to this Sunday’s Father’s Day:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-18/fathers-day-church-leaders-thank-you-fatherhood-186298

    Quotes from the following leaders were shared: President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency; Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, and Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and Sisters Joy D. Jones, Primary General President; Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, who respectively serve as First and Second Counselors in the Relief Society General Presidency.

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-17/latter-day-saint-fighter-pilot-u-s-air-force-death-family-fellow-airmen-grieving-187141

    The following development was covered by both the Newsroom and the Church News:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/bednar-covid-19-pandemic-religious-freedom

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-17/elder-bednar-covid-19-sounding-religious-freedom-wake-up-call-187106

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-17/latter-day-saint-fighter-pilot-u-s-air-force-death-family-fellow-airmen-grieving-187141

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-17/new-church-video-feeling-lords-love-while-fighting-cancer-philippines-family-mother-187152

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-17/andrew-unsworth-tabernacle-choir-organist-livestream-recitals-temple-square-coronavirus-pandemic-187031

    My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello again, everyone! The Church News shared a breaking development just now, which confirmed that Elder Holland has been released from the hospital and is now recuprating at home prior to resuming normal activities:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-19/elder-holland-home-from-hospital-health-concerns-unrelated-covid-19-187275

    And in honor of today being Juneteenth, FamilySearch has released records from the Freedman's Bureau:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2020-06-19/juneteenth-slaves-freedom-familysearch-freedmens-bureau-records-187303

    Meanwhile, another report has been provided about BYU's religious freedom annual review:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-19/byu-conference-religious-freedom-during-covid-19-187293

    And the latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-19/this-week-on-social-look-forward-with-faith-love-encouragement-faith-186739

    The most recent installment in that continuing series featured posts from the following general leaders: Church President Russell M. Nelson; Elders David A. Bednar and Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency; Sister Cristina B. Franco, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; and the entire Young Women General Presidency: Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First and Second Counselors, Sisters Michelle D. Craig (from whom 2 posts were shared) and Becky Craven.

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sometimes follow this blog and find it very interesting. I had someone ask me a question that I don't know the answer to and thought you may. Do you know who are the current general authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who are related to Joseph Smith, Jr or Hyrum Smith?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, Charlie, and thanks for stopping by to comment. President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is a direct descendent of Hyrum Smith on his mother's side of the family. Since the organization of the Church, there has always been an apostle connected to the Smith family. Aside from early leaders of the Church, Joseph F. Smith was the son of Hyrum Smith, and both he (Joseph F.) and his son (Joseph Fielding Smith) were presidents of the Church. After the death of JOseph Fielding Smith, his son-in-law, Bruce R. McConkie, was called to fill the resulting vacancy in the Quourum of the Twelve Apostles. And President Ballard became the next apostle called from that family line.

      While I am unsure how many others there might be, there is one more definitive direct-line Smith descendent. In April of last yezr, Jan E. Newman was called as Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. And he also is a direct descendent of Hyrum Smith.

      Those are the ones I'm aware of currently, though there could be one more that we may not know. Hope that information helps, Charlie. Thanks again for taking time to commnt. I appreciate hearing from you.

      Delete

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