Wednesday, April 7, 2021

What Elder Holland is studying each morning

A delightful, amiable discussion between two dear friends yielded a fun anecdote that didn’t make it into my initial story about an event this week.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, reengaged with his dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Andrew Teal, of Oxford University and the Church of England, in another discussion of theology Tuesday at the 31st annual International Society Conference.

During their online conversation, the Rev. Dr. Teal said he’d love to serve a mission with Elder Holland, which became the top of my story.

But Elder Holland also shared with his friend, and the audience on YouTube, what he is doing for scripture study each morning in 2021.

Two quick bits of context:

First, Elder Holland served a mission in England as a young man and is a self-described Anglophile.

Second, Elder Holland and the Rev. Dr. Teal became close friends around Thanksgiving 2018, when Elder Holland traveled to England for three events, which I covered for the Deseret News:

• He presented a family history and a leather-bound Book of Mormon to then-British Prime Minister Theresa May.
• He held a public conversation on Latter-day Saint theology with the Rev. Dr. Teal at the 1,000-year-old University Church of St. Mary the Virgin.
• He engaged in a four-way conversation with a former archbishop of Canterbury and Catholic and Methodist leaders.

With that all in mind, here’s what Elder Holland said to his friend about his 2021 daily scripture study on Tuesday:

“The reference to scripture, Andrew, you and I have that in common from the beginning, a love of scripture. I’m marking a new set. It’s hard for me to read without a pencil. I need to highlight and I need to make arrows and make little notes in the margins. So, once I’ve been through a set of scriptures, I have to set them aside or give them away. Then I start a new set. I’m just starting a new set myself, and I’m reading concurrently the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants — the whole church is reading the Doctrine and Covenants this year — but we always are supposed to dabble as we can each day in the Book of Mormon, so I’m doing both of those in a kind of concurrent and parallel way. But in honor of my love for you and my devotion to things British, I’m also doing the Oxford Study Bible, which is the revised English version, a hard copy, a hardback and is a delightful work, which I am loving.

“Thirty years ago I’d gone through the new English Bible, but this has got some updated scholarship, a much more extensive series of footnotes, and of course the Apocrypha is included, which I find delightful and use from time to time. So in my little morning study, I’m running down three paths with the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants and the new English Version in its most recent form, and I think of you when I open that latter book and remember how much I love you, and how much I enjoy Oxford and how much I am anxious to have you come and teach at BYU.”

The Rev. Dr. Teal will be a visiting affiliate scholar at BYU’s Maxwell Institute in fall 2021.

My Recent Stories

Did an Anglican priest just invite Elder Holland on a mission? (April 7)

BYU devotional: Black professor says ‘racism does not fit a disciple of Christ’ (April 7)

Why more Latter-day Saint callings are now available to young single adults (April 6)

International inclusion, Easter messages, 20 new temples mark historic conference (April 4)

Sunday morning: A uniquely international Easter Sunday — President Nelson, leaders from 8 other nations focus on the risen Christ (April 4)

Latter-day Saint membership increased this much in 2020, according to new church statistical report (April 3)

Saturday conference wrap: There is healing for suffering and unfairness, leaders say (April 3)

Saturday morning: President Nelson opens conference with invitation to clear ‘the old debris in our lives’ (April 3)

As the world shut down, the church’s relief efforts ramped up (April 2)

At leadership session of conference, President Nelson shares lessons learned as prophet (April 1)

Download the free Deseret News app for access to more news right from your pocket.

What I’m Reading ...

Here’s a fun story that anyone of any age can enjoy. It’s about superstitions in baseball and how one made it onto a baseball card. My sister Kimberly told me it made her want to learn about more strange-but-true baseball card stories. (I’m so happy baseball season has started!)

Here is more information about the church’s eight new General Authority Seventies, from my friends at the Church News, who are preparing full profiles on each. The Houston Chronicle wrote about one of them who resigned a significant corporate job.

“The Chosen” is a big hit with many Latter-day Saints. Here’s a look at the TV series now that Season 2 is underway.

My colleague Trent Toone wrote several stories of interest this past week:

• 11 fascinating images of Latter-day Saint artifacts
• Q&A: Why Latter-day Saints seem to avoid the symbol of the cross
• Meet the 77 new Area Seventies from 25 countries named Thursday at the general conference leadership session
• ‘What a blessing’: What Latter-day Saints are saying about temple plans in their hometowns