True faith in Christ has always been linked to the offering of sacrifice — a "small gift" that symbolically echoes His majestic offering, said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"With his eye firmly on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that a religion that does not include covenants of sacrifice cannot have the power to bring the promise of eternal life," Elder Holland said Saturday afternoon.

Elder Holland greeted his conference audience in Spanish, a nod to his new assignment presiding over the Chile Area. Such global service is not new to the Twelve, although Elder Holland said he does not have to face many of the hardships and challenges experienced by past apostles such as Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball. Both Elders Young and Kimball left their families in difficult circumstances to accept apostolic missions in distant lands.

Elder Holland also spoke of the women who supported such leaders — those wives who stayed behind to care for children.

"We seldom face anything like those circumstances today, though many missionaries and members still sacrifice greatly to do the work of the Lord," Elder Holland said. "As blessings come and the Church matures, we all hope that service will never be so difficult as these early members found it, but as missionaries are singing this day from Oslo to Osorno and from Seattle to Cebu, we are 'called to serve.'"

Elder Holland spoke of a bishop who was just about to leave for a "date night" with his wife when the phone rang. On the line was a woman from the ward who needed the bishop's immediate attention. The foiled date left the bishop's wife disappointed for several weeks. Then she was approached by the woman who had called. The woman told the bishop's wife that the answered phone call and the bishop's help prevented her from making a terrible decision that would have severely damaged her family. The woman thanked the bishop's wife for the support she had given her husband in his calling.

Elder Holland said he is one who preaches a more manageable and realistic expectation of what bishops and other leaders can do — adding that the wide range of life's demands that take parents including, and especially mothers, out of homes "is among the most serious problems in contemporary society."

"But I am as grateful in my own way as that young woman was in hers that in this instance this good [bishop] followed the promptings of the Spirit and responded to his 'call' — in this case, literally — his 'call to serve'," Elder Holland said.

Home, family and marriage are the most precious human possessions.

"I testify of the need to protect and preserve them while we find time and ways to serve faithfully in the Church," he said.

Elder Holland thanked all who do the best they can to build God's kingdom on earth and follow Christ's admonition to serve.

"Such service inevitably brings challenging decisions about how to balance priorities and how best to be the disciple He wishes us to be," he said. "I thank Him for His divine guidance in helping us make those decisions and assisting us to find the right way for all concerned."