Finding Light and Hope: Elder Holland Talks about Depression

With this post I begin a new series (that hopefully I'll actually continue) sharing moments of light and hope.  My friend Stephanie at diapersanddivinity.com shared this list of quotes from General Conference and inspired me to make my own.  

When I shared my idea with a few friends, someone pointed out Michael Otterson's quote in this article.

General Conference is not to be understood through sound bites, especially when people take a sentence here and there and try to justify their own political agendas. That reflects a very poor level of spiritual maturity.

To Bro. Otterson and others who may not approve of my list, I say this,

Sometimes it takes a tremendous amount of spiritual maturity to find the little nuggets of good, hope, and beauty and to not become weighed down by those things that hurt our hearts or don't sit well with us.  

Sister Camilla Kimball spoke of putting those difficult concepts on a shelf. At this point in my life, I'm choosing to focus on the good.  I'm not putting things on a shelf.  I'm just letting them go and looking for the things that feed my soul.  

I didn't get a chance to watch any of conference this year because I was busy having another incredible experience with my tai chi family.  (I'll try to write more about that later.)  Luckily, all the conference talks are posted both as videos and written transcripts, so I can catch up on my own time.  And since I can watch them in any order, I'm starting with the talk that received the most positive response from my friends.

You can read Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk here or watch it now.



My spiritually immature favorite quote is this:

We are infinitely more than our limitations or our afflictions!

Another favorite sound bite:

Believe in miracles. I have seen so many of them come when every other indication would say that hope was lost. Hope is never lost.

I especially appreciated these words to both those who suffer and those who help them. So often the message at church is "Do more." I love that he acknowledges that some times we need to do less and "be still."

When you face “depletion depression,” make the requisite adjustments. Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill.

If those are only small victories, be grateful for them and be patient. Dozens of times in the scriptures, the Lord commands someone to “stand still” or “be still”—and wait.6

Thank you, Elder Holland for the talk that so many of us needed to hear and have been waiting far too long to hear.  

What were your favorite parts of this talk?