Patricia’s Courage

A story from Elder Holland’s life.

When Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was in college, he and his wife, Patricia, were very busy. One day when they were walking to class, Jeffrey felt overwhelmed, like he had too many things to do. He felt worried about the future. He stopped walking and asked Patricia, “Should we give up?” He thought maybe they should just give up on college and go home.

But Patricia wasn’t ready to give up. She looked at Jeffrey and said, “We are not going back. The future holds everything for us.”

Jeffrey and Patricia chose to keep going. They worked hard and had faith.

Years later Jeffrey became the president of Brigham Young University, the same college where he and Patricia had spent so much time and worked so hard. Sometimes he thought about the day he had wanted to give up on college. When he remembered that day, he was always grateful for Patricia’s courage. He was glad that he and Patricia chose to have faith. They kept thinking about the future with faith and courage and never gave up.