(RNS) — When I heard on Christmas Eve that Jeffrey R. Holland, 85, a beloved apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was back in the hospital, it was not a total surprise. In April 2023, we got the alarming news that he and his wife, Patricia, had both been diagnosed with COVID-19 and would have to miss General Conference. The church had earlier revealed that Elder Holland was on dialysis. Kidney problems not being a great combination with COVID-19, this seemed like a bad omen. Though he returned to church work that June, it was short-lived. The next month, his wife died at age 81; in early August, the church issued a rare update on Elder Holland’s health, saying he had been hospitalized again for his kidney problems. And yet his death early this morning (Dec. 27) from kidney disease complications was still a shock, because Elder Holland lived to become “President Holland” — the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. For the last two years, he seemed to …