"Today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known."This weekend we listened to the 185th General Conference and it was also Easter Sunday. Once again my favorite talk was given by Elder Holland.
—Jeffrey R. Holland
Elder Holland illustrated the significance of the Atonement with the story of two brothers named John, 19, and Jimmy, 14, who began a climb up a sheer canyon wall in southern Utah's Snow Canyon State Park without any climbing gear. At one point near the top of the climb, they reached a ledge that they couldn’t climb up or go back down. John managed to help his little brother up to safety, but remained stuck. In a last-ditch effort, he made a vertical jump, knowing that if he missed, he would not survive the fall. He jumped but his hands slapped down on loose sand on a flat stone. John said his last prayer, felt his fingers begin to recede slowly and knew his life was over.
John said, “But then suddenly, like a lightning strike in a summer storm, two hands shot out from somewhere above the edge of the cliff, grabbing my wrists with a strength and determination that belied their size.” His brother caught him and pulled him up to safety.
Elder Holland said, "Are we all just hanging in a cold canyon somewhere? No! Today is Easter Sunday. … This is the most sacred day of the year for special remembrance of brotherly hands and determined arms that reached into the very abyss of death to save us from our fallings and our failings, from our sorrows and from our sins."
I love this great apostle, his witness of the Savior was
so profound and wonderful!
