Jeffrey R. Holland on the help of angels in our lives

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (1940- ) served as Church Commissioner of Education from 1976-1980, as the president of BYU from 1980-1989, as a Seventy from 1989-1994, and as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles since 1994.

"I have spoken here of heavenly help, of angels dispatched to bless us in time of need. But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind....

"I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. '[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved' (Moroni 7:36). On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."

- Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Ministry of Angels," Ensign, Nov 2008, pp. 29-31
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There are times in life when we all need help — physical help, temporal assistance, encouragement, moral support. We are blessed at those times to be "surrounded by angels" in very real ways, as Elder Holland points out.

President Spencer W. Kimball put it this way: "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs" (Spencer W. Kimball, "Small Acts of Service," Ensign, Dec 1974, 2).

How blessed we are to have a loving Father who cares for us in this way.

How blessed we are to feel the love and ministry of those angels in our lives.

How blessed we are to sometimes have the privilege to be that kind of angel.