These were the themes as family, friends and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered Wednesday at the Tabernacle on Temple Square to remember the life of Holland — President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — who passed away on Saturday, Dec. 27.

While addressing the funeral service, Jeffery Holland’s son David Holland said that he’s heard many stories of his father’s impact on people.

“I suppose that there have been weeks during which no one has approached me to tell me his words had changed their lives, but I am sure I have never gone a full month without such a comment,” he said. “And I never tire of hearing it.”

However, he added that there was more to Holland than just his public-facing activities.

Photo supplied, Intellectual Reserve

“Many of those within the sound of my voice today know him as a gifted orator, an elegant writer, a deft leader and a devoted minster — and he was all of these things to a remarkable, even astonishing, degree,” he said. “He was an even better father whose recurring image of the parent who runs to his children was not just a beautiful illustration for a sermon — it was the very spirit and substance of the dad I knew.”

Holland’s daughter Mary Alice McCann said during the service that his physical presence is missed, but he’s left so much to those who knew him.

“It’s a somewhat frightening and lonely feeling to be left on this Earth without the man who has made the world safe for me, but like the Savior left his disciples with a comfort even greater than he, my father has left me with something even greater than his physical presence,” she said. “He has left me with a testimony of and a relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ, who is my ultimate source of comfort and peace.”

She went on to call her father an “apostle of hope.”

“He believed in the redemption of Jesus Christ and that through him and because of him, all things would be made right,” she said. “If not today, tomorrow. If not tomorrow, the next month or next year. And if not in this life, then in the next. But the promise of the atonement of Jesus Christ is that all things will be made right.”

Photo supplied, Intellectual Reserve

Also speaking Wednesday was Holland’s son Elder Matthew Holland.

“My father was an irresistible force for righteousness,” he said. “His unique gifts for friendship, intellect, language and mirth disarmed and drew in virtually anyone who came in his orbit. … My father could’ve easily used his world-class gifts for world-class honors and riches. Instead, across his entire career, he channeled  virtually everything he had — those legendary gifts plus his time, his astounding work ethic and his fierce sense of determination into bringing people to Jesus Christ and his church.”

He said that this carried on, even as his father’s health began failing in the last few years of his life.

“Again and again, in the last two-and-a-half years, I watched President Holland push past all of his own intense personal physical challenges to bring love, laughter and the light of Jesus Christ to others in life-altering ways,” he said. “This final, and perhaps most admirable chapter of his life, was a masterclass in being a disciple of Jesus Christ at all times, in all things and in all places.”

Church President Dallin H. Oaks, who presided over Wednesday’s funeral, reflected on his friendship with Holland, which spanned more than 50 years.

Photo supplied, Intellectual Reserve

“Jeffrey R. Holland was my dear friend and an apostle of love and learning,” Oaks said.

Oaks read off several comments that he’d seen on the internet in the days since Holland’s passing noting how Holland had touched their lives over the years.

“President Jeffrey R. Holland left a huge mark, loving personal memories of his influence and his unforgettable testimony of God on all that he touched,” he said.

Holland was set to be interred in St. George, Utah, on Thursday in a private ceremony. He was buried next to his wife, Patricia, who died in 2023.