The Twelve Apostles magazine 2026

THE TWELVE

PROFILES OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The calling of a new apostle is always a sacred and historic moment for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That moment happened again recently with the calling of Elder Clark G. Gilbert to the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Gilbert filled the vacancy left by the death of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

Apostles are special witnesses of Jesus Christ. Anciently, Jesus Christ called and sent His apostles forth to represent Him.

According to the Church, today’s apostles are also called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the secondhighest leadership body of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the First Presidency being the highest).

Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles serve under the direction of the First Presidency, which includes the Church president and two counselors. The president of the Church is always the senior apostle — the longest-serving member of the Quorum of the Twelve

Apostles — and his counselors are often chosen from the Quorum of the Twelve. They are also considered apostles.

In addition to their primary responsibility to be special witnesses of Jesus Christ throughout the world, apostles have administrative responsibilities as they oversee the programs and development of the global Church. These responsibilities include missionary work, humanitarian aid, temple service, gospel instruction and more.

Quorum members travel frequently to address large congregations of Church members and meet with Church leaders.

It is the Church’s practice that the senior member by date of assignment to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes quorum president. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf is currently designated as “acting president” of the quorum because President Henry B. Eyring, who is senior in apostolic service, currently serves as first counselor in the First Presidency.

Sources: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org churchofjesuschrist.org

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

On Sept. 30, 2004, two days before the annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dieter F. Uchtdorf was taking a stroll with his wife, Harriet, when the conversation turned to the historic nature of the meeting where not one, but two modern-day apostles would be sustained. The more they walked and talked, the more anxious Uchtdorf and Harriet became for the yet unidentified men whose lives would be changed forever by the lifelong appointment.

“As soon as we returned home we got down on our knees and prayed for these men and their families,” Uchtdorf said.

The very next day, a stunned Uchtdorf was summoned to President Gordon B. Hinckley’s office and asked to become a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Expressing his reaction to becoming an apostle, he said, “I have a great sense of inadequacy, and I have felt a sweet

agony from a deep and often painful examination of my soul during the many hours which have passed day and night since Friday morning of this week.”

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was born on Nov. 6, 1940, in what was then known as Mährisch-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia, to Karl Albert and Hildegard Else Opelt Uchtdorf. He was raised in Zwickau, Germany, where his family joined the Church in 1947.

He studied engineering and later continued his education in business administration in Cologne, Germany, and international management in Lausanne, Switzerland. He joined the German Air Force in 1959 and received his pilot wings in Big Spring, Texas, and fighter pilot training in Phoenix, Arizona.

In 1965, President Uchtdorf joined Lufthansa German Airlines as a pilot. He worked as an airline captain from 1970 to 1996, flying multiple types of airplanes and completing his career flying the B747. He held several executive positions, including head of the airline pilot school, director of inflight services and head of cockpit crews.

At the time of his call as a general authority, he was the senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot of Lufthansa German Airlines. He was also chairman of the Flight Operations Committee of the International Air Transport Association. He has served as a board member for several government and business executive committees.

President Uchtdorf married Harriet Reich on Dec. 14, 1962. They are the parents of two children. Since his call as an apostle, President and Sister Uchtdorf have had their permanent home in the United States.

Sustained as an apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2004,

Born: Nov. 6, 1940, in Mährisch-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 2, 2004

Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 63

Called as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Jan. 8, 2026

President Uchtdorf was set apart as second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church on Feb. 3, 2008. He served in the presidency with First Counselor Henry B. Eyring and President Thomas S. Monson until President Monson’s death on Jan. 2, 2018.

President Uchtdorf was called to serve as the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles upon the death of Quorum President Jeffrey R. Holland, who died Dec. 27, 2025. It is the Church’s practice that the senior member by date of ordination to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes quorum president. President Henry B. Eyring, who is the current president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, currently serves as first counselor in the Church’s First Presidency. For this reason, President Uchtdorf is serving as acting president.

Sources: news-sg.churchofjesuschrist.org newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

David A. Bednar

One day after being sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk in the Church’s October 2004 general conference. The theme: “In the strength of the Lord we can do and endure and overcome all things.”

“I will go where the Lord and the leaders of His Church want me to go, I will do what they want me to do, I will teach what they want me to teach, and I will strive to become what I should and must become,” Elder Bednar said. “In the strength of the Lord and through His grace, I know that you and I can be blessed to accomplish all things.”

David A. Bednar was ordained and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 7, 2004. Prior to his call to the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Bednar served as an

Area Seventy, Area Authority Seventy, Regional Representative, twice as a stake president, and as a bishop.

Elder Bednar was born on June 15, 1952, in Oakland, California. He served as a full-time missionary in Southern Germany and then attended Brigham Young University, where he received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. He also received a doctoral degree in organizational behavior from Purdue University.

After completing his education, Elder Bednar was a professor of business management at Texas Tech University and at the University of Arkansas. He then served as the president of Brigham Young University-Idaho from 19972004.

Elder Bednar married Susan Kae Robinson in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975, and they are the parents

Born: June 15, 1952, in Oakland, California

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 2, 2004 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 52

of three sons.

At the Silicon Slopes Summit in Salt Lake City in September 2023, Elder Bednar was asked what he found fun and exciting about seeing the world on a global level. He answered, “My wife and I have had the chance to be in more than 110 different nations in the last 19 years and meet people of every religious background, culture, ethnicity. The thing that really gets me so excited is that we are all pretty much the same.

“Yes, there are lots of differences. But we are far more alike than we are different. That gets me excited. And to be engaged in the work I’m engaged in. People may disagree with our doctrine. But to teach the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ all over the earth — I love that that. My California term for that is ‘that just gets me juiced.’ I love doing that. That’s what I love.”

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Quentin L. Cook

“President Hinckley extended this call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve late Thursday afternoon,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook during the Sunday morning session of the Church’s October 2007 general conference. “I cannot possibly articulate the kaleidoscope of feelings I have experienced since then. There have been sleepless nights and much prayer. My spirits have been buoyed, however, by the knowledge that President Hinckley is the prophet and that the membership of the Church will be praying for me and my family.

“To say that I feel deeply inadequate would be an understatement. When I was called as a General Authority in April of 1996, I also felt unequal to the calling. Elder Neal A. Maxwell reassured me then that the most important qualification for all of us serving in the kingdom is to be comfortable in bearing witness of the divinity of the Savior. A peace came over me at that time and has stayed with me since because I love the Savior and have had spiritual experiences that allow me to testify of Him. I rejoice in the opportunity to bear witness of Jesus Christ in all the world, notwithstanding my inadequacies.”

Called as a General Authority in April 1996, Elder Cook served in the Second Quorum, the First Quorum and the Presidency of the Seventy. He previously served in the Area Presidency in the Philippines, as president of the Pacific Islands and the North America Northwest areas, and as executive director of the Missionary Department.

At the time of his call to be a General Authority of the Church, he was vice chairman of Sutter Health System. He had previously served as president and chief executive officer of a California healthcare system. Prior to that, he was a business lawyer and managing partner of

a San Francisco Bay Area law firm. He also served on the governing boards of a number of civic and business-related corporations.

A native of Logan, Utah, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Utah State University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Stanford University. USU awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

He has served the Church as full-time missionary in the British Mission and as a bishop, stake president in the San Francisco California Stake, Regional Representative, and Area Authority in the North America West Area.

He married Mary Gaddie on Nov. 30, 1962. They are the parents of three children.

“I am an apostle, and one of my responsibilities is to testify of Jesus Christ,” Elder Cook said in an address to Church members in the Republic of Marshall Islands in 2024. “I testify to

Born: Sept. 8, 1940, in Logan, Utah

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 6, 2007 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 67

you that He lives, that He is divine, that He is our Savior and our Redeemer. We can have the assurance of eternal life because of Jesus Christ.”

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Neil L. Andersen

“My experiences as an apostle of the Lord have given me a witness that Jesus is the Christ, and that He guides His work on this earth through His prophet and through His apostles,” said Elder Neil L. Andersen in September 2023 while speaking to Church members in the Asia North Area.

Elder Andersen was serving as the senior member of the Presidency of the Seventy prior to his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve. He was named a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in April 1993 at age 41. He previously led the work of the Church in southern Brazil and, again as a member of an area presidency, oversaw the Church in western Europe. He has also assisted in supervising the work of the Church in Mexico and Central America.

In addition, he supervised Church audiovisual production, including the filming of “The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd,” and managed construction of the broadcast facilities in the Conference Center as the executive

director of the Church Audiovisual Department. He speaks French, Portuguese and Spanish in addition to his native English.

As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Andersen has at different times had supervisory responsibilities for the Brazil, Pacific, Philippines, Africa South, Africa Central, Asia North, Central America, South America Northwest, South America South, and North America Central Areas of the Church. He has served on the Priesthood and Family Executive Council and the Missionary Executive Council and as Chairman of the Temple and Family History Council and the Correlation Executive Committee, among other assignments.

Prior to his call as a general authority, Elder Andersen served as a mission president in the France Bordeaux Mission and as president of the Tampa Florida Stake.

Elder Andersen was born in Logan, Utah, and raised in Pocatello, Idaho, on

Born: Aug. 9, 1951, in Logan, Utah

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: April 4, 2009 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 57

a dairy farm where he remembers doing “typical Idaho farm work, from morning to night.” In high school, he excelled in student government, serving as governor of Idaho Boys State.

He graduated from Brigham Young University, where he was a Hinckley Scholar, and earned a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. After completing his education, he settled in Tampa, Florida, where his business interests included advertising, real estate development and health care.

Elder Andersen and his wife, Kathy Williams Andersen, are the parents of four children.

“As a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, I witness that I have experienced sacred moments, unforgettable, powerful spiritual experiences and my faith, which is a simple faith, has been channeled into a sure and certain witness that He lives, that He was resurrected, and that He is our Savior and Redeemer,” he said in an address to Church members in Perth, Western Australia, in November 2022.

Sources: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org churchofjesuschrist.org

Ronald A. Rasband

The names of three Church leaders — Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson and Elder Dale G. Renlund — were presented at the Saturday afternoon session of the Church’s 185th Semiannual General Conference in October 2015 as new members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It had been more than a century since the Quorum of the Twelve had three vacancies.

Elder Rasband said that following the call issued to him by Church president Thomas S. Monson to serve as an apostle of Jesus Christ, a New Testament scripture came to his mind as he pondered and prayed about the new assignment: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you” (John 15:16).

“I had a spiritual impression that there’s nothing about this that was politically motivated, nothing about it that was an election, nothing about it that was a vote, nothing about it was my desire. It was the Lord’s decision and … I needed to understand that and have it confirmed to me just like President Monson told me. And Sister Rasband and I received that (witness) in our first prayer through that very verse,” he said. “I had a witness come across me that not only should I be enthusiastic about that call but I knew it was exactly where the Lord wanted me to go. And I went from depression about my call to elation about my call that fast.”

While studying at the University of Utah, Elder Rasband joined Huntsman Container Company in 1976 as a sales representative. In 1987, he was appointed president and chief operating officer of Huntsman Chemical Corporation. In 1995, Utah Valley University awarded him an honorary doctorate of business and commerce.

In 1973 he married Melanie Twitchell. They are the parents of five children. Elder Rasband’s service in the Church has included serving as a bishop and a mission president; supervising the North America West, Northwest and three Utah areas; serving as a counselor in the Europe Central Area Presidency; serving as executive director of the Temple Department; and serving as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy and as senior president of the Quorums of the Seventy.

As a special witness of Christ through serving as an apostle, Elder Rasband said, “I can’t ever remember not believing in Jesus Christ. I have loved him since I learned of Him from the knees of my mother sharing scriptures with me and reading stories. I have just grown up in the Lord. I’ve always loved Him. I’ve always had a desire to serve Him. I love the Lord; I know He is God’s living Son, Jesus the Christ. I’m honored beyond my words to express to have

Born: Feb. 6, 1951, in Salt Lake City, Utah

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 3, 2015 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 64

been called to serve Him up to this very moment, and I will devote my time, my talents, everything I have now till the day I die. I’m committed to do it. I’m honored to do it.”

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Gary E. Stevenson

When then-Presiding Bishop Gary E. Stevenson received a telephone call from the Office of the First Presidency, he thought, “I knew it!” and was certain he was being informed that one of his counselors would be called to fill one of the vacancies in the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

What followed was “a knee-buckling moment for me,” he said. “It was a very sweet, short experience with the First Presidency. It was not something that I had expected.”

Since that time, Elder Stevenson has drawn comfort from a scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants: “And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (D&C 84:88).

That verse of scripture has been a pattern for the life of Elder Gary E. Stevenson, who was sustained on Oct. 3, 2015, as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. From his childhood in Cache Valley, Utah, Elder Stevenson has tried to seek wisdom from the Lord and to be diligent as he balanced his responsibilities as a husband, father, Church leader and businessman. He has approached his life and Church service with a very simple philosophy: “Keeping the commandments brings blessings, and blessings bring happiness.”

“I’ve often said that I feel like I was blessed to have a sense of the truthfulness of the gospel, really from my earliest memories, and something that instilled in me the desire, the duty to live the gospel and every day try to do that,” Elder Stevenson said as he described his life and how the Lord has tutored him and prepared him to serve as an apostle. “Balance was probably

one of the great lessons. When you’re going through something that can be so consuming, what do you do to make certain that you maintain a balance of family, of profession and of Church calling? And then making certain that you take care of yourself as well? Those are the challenges and the struggles that people face. I think that’s been a great preparation and something that really blessed us.”

More than nine years of Elder Stevenson’s life have been spent living in Asia. As a young missionary, he served for two years in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. Later, he would return to Asia many times on business, and then he served as the mission president of the Japan Nagoya Mission (2004-2007) and as area president of the Church’s Asia North Area (2008-2012).

Elder Stevenson received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Utah State University. He cofounded an exercise equipment manufacturing company, ICON Health & Fitness Inc., where he served as president and chief operating officer until 2008.

Born: Aug. 6, 1955, in Ogden, Utah

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 3, 2015 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 60

He was also involved in numerous civic activities and has served on various boards and advisory councils.

He is married to Lesa Jean Higley, whom he met in an Old Testament course at Utah State University. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in April 1979 and have raised four sons.

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

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Dale G. Renlund

On Sept. 29, 2015, Elder Dale G. Renlund received a completely unexpected call from the Office of the First Presidency and was asked to come to the North Board Room in the Church Administration Building. “I didn’t know where the North Board Room was,” he laughed. He was welcomed there by President Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors. What followed was a very brief meeting in which President Monson said, “Brother Renlund, we extend to you the call to serve as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.”

Elder Renlund immediately found himself without words. Said the former physician, “Wherever the sweet spot is between apoplectic and catatonic, that’s where I was.” He humbly accepted the assignment and, after a few minutes, found himself back in his office, where “I closed the door and fell to my knees.”

The reaction of his wife, Ruth Lybbert Renlund, who he married in 1977, was a source of great strength to him. “She was

all in. When I called her, her life changed too,” he said.

In the hours that followed, they prayed together and received a witness that “God directed this course.”

Elder Renlund spent his career as a cardiologist specializing in heart failure and heart transplantation. He received BA and MD degrees from the University of Utah, with further training in medicine and research at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was a professor of medicine at the University of Utah and the medical director of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals (UTAH) Cardiac Transplant Program. He describes it as a “phenomenal and extraordinarily fulfilling career.”

He said he is grateful for the important lessons he has learned from those he cared for during his career. “As a physician, one learns to care about people and how to solve problems,” he said.

Those lessons have served him well in

Born: Nov. 13, 1952, in Salt Lake City, Utah

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Oct. 3, 2015 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 62

his Church service, “which is all about love and solving problems,” he said. In addition to his calling as a bishop, Elder Renlund has served as a missionary, stake president and Area Seventy. He was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy in April of 2009. He also served in the presidency of the Africa Southeast Area.

When first called to the apostleship, Elder Renlund said he was grateful for the opportunity he would have to share the gospel message throughout the world. “We must recognize that the Savior helps everyone,” he said. “Saints are sinners who keep on trying. There is something about seeing people as Heavenly Father sees them — as a beloved son or daughter of heavenly parents and, as such, with divine potential. All true followers need to plead for that pure love of Christ that He does give (Moroni 7:48). God is so mindful of individuals, and status doesn’t much matter. Faith and hope matter. He knows His children one by one.”

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Gerrit W. Gong

In a July 2018 interview, Elder Gerrit W. Gong spoke of the overwhelming feeling he and his wife, Susan, experienced when they heard his call to the apostleship together from President Russell M. Nelson. “I was grateful Susan was able to be with me at my side,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say we both wept then and later on. … Susan is wonderfully spiritually sensitive. She’s always focused on others. I’m just grateful that things difficult and things joyful we can do together.”

“My wife and I were grateful to the Lord for this opportunity,” he said. “But we saw the challenges that would come ahead of us to represent the Savior correctly, accordingly and really share the feelings of the Savior to all people in the world — to represent His love and get to the hearts of people. It’s an overwhelming responsibility, but with Him we believe we can do it.”

Elder Gong was serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy at the time of his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve. He became a General Authority Seventy of the Church in April 2010. He was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on October 6, 2015. From 2011 to 2015, Elder Gong was a member of the Asia Area Presidency, headquartered in Hong Kong, and concluded that service as the area president.

Elder Gong received a bachelor of arts degree in Asian and university studies from Brigham Young University in 1977. In 1979, he received a master of philosophy degree and in 1981 a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. In 1985 he served as special assistant to the undersecretary of state at the U.S. State Department and in 1987 as special assistant to the U.S.

ambassador in Beijing, China.

From 1989 he served in several positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He was assistant to the president for planning and assessment at Brigham Young University until April 2010.

Elder Gong has served in numerous Church callings, including full-time missionary, high councilor, high priests group leader, stake Sunday School president, seminary teacher, bishop, stake mission president, stake president, and Area Seventy. Elder Gong married Susan Lindsay in January 1980. They are the parents of four children.

During a BYU-Pathway Worldwide devotional broadcast in December 2023, Elder Gong encouraged listeners to cheerfully do their best in their lives.

“This is a principle of faith and action,” he said. “Cheerfulness and gratitude go together. Cheerfulness and

Born: Dec. 23, 1953, in Redwood City, California

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: March 31, 2018 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 64

service go together. Doing all things that lie in our power helps us receive God’s help and inspiration. Our best efforts and God’s help go together.”

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Ulisses Soares

Elder Ulisses Soares, the first LatinAmerican member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was called to the apostleship the same day as Elder Gerrit W. Gong, the first Quorum member of Asian ancestry.

“My wife and I were grateful to the Lord for this opportunity,” Elder Soares said when he and Elder Gong were interviewed three months after their call to the apostleship. “But we saw the challenges that would come ahead of us to represent the Savior correctly, accordingly and really share the feelings of the Savior to all people in the world — to represent His love and get to the hearts of people. It’s an overwhelming responsibility, but with Him we believe we can do it.”

Elder Soares was serving as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy at the time of his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve. He had been serving as a General Authority Seventy of the Church since April 2005 and was named a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on Jan. 6, 2013. He served previously as a counselor in the Africa Southeast Area, the president of the Brazil Area and a counselor in the Brazil South Area.

Elder Soares received a bachelor of arts degree in accounting and economics from the São Paulo Pontifical Catholic University, School of Economic Science in 1985 and later received a master of business administration degree. He was an accountant and auditor for multinational corporations in Brazil and director for temporal affairs in the Church area office in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time of his call as a General Authority, he was serving on a special assignment for the Presiding Bishopric of the Church in Salt Lake City. He married his wife, Rosana, in October 1982. They are the parents of three children.

In an October 2018 general conference talk titled “Elder Ulisses Soares: A Man without Guile,” Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that when Elder Soares served as president of the Portugal Porto Mission from 2000 to 2003, he became well known for using the Portuguese phrase “Tudo vai dar certo,” which means “everything will work out.”

“Such faith and optimism haven’t come from an easy life,” Elder Andersen said. “Elder and Sister Soares know well the disappointment of going without, the weariness of long days of work and study, the challenges of ill health, and the heartache of miscarriage, stillbirth, and loss of siblings and parents.

“But through life’s journey, they have put their faith in the words of Elder Soares’s favorite scripture: ‘Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead

Born: Oct. 2, 1958, in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: March 31, 2018 Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 59

thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.’”

Sources: churchofjesuschrist.org newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Patrick Kearon

Elder Patrick Kearon was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Dec. 7, 2023, and ordained later that day by President Russell M. Nelson and the other members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Kearon, who has served as the senior president of the Presidency of the Seventy since August 2020, filled the vacancy created by the death of President M. Russell Ballard, who passed away on Nov. 12, 2023. The British and Irish national has been a General Authority Seventy since April 3, 2010.

“This sacred call is so very daunting and humbling to me,” said Elder Kearon at the time of his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “I will need to place all my trust in the Savior as I seek to become what He needs me to be and share my witness of His love and light. The abundance and grace of Jesus Christ have brought immense joy into my life,

as well as healing balm in times of trial. I love Him. I will strive to serve Him to the best of my ability.”

Elder Kearon was raised in the United Kingdom and the Middle East, where his father worked in the defense industry. At age 10, he attended boarding school in England while his parents remained in Saudi Arabia. The significant trial of that separation fostered lasting insights and sensitivities that have come to mark his ministry.

“Of course in so many ways we are all far from home,” Elder Kearon once taught Brigham Young University students. “The metaphor here with our eternal home is clear. … Our Eternal Father has not let any of us leave home, leave His presence, without the opportunity to access His love and His guidance — every day of our lives.”

In his adult life, Elder Kearon lived and worked in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United States in a range of industries, including running his

Born: July 18, 1961, in Carlisle, England

Ordained an apostle: Dec. 7, 2023

Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 62

own communication consultancy. Elder Kearon first came to an understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he lived in California with a Latter-day Saint family. He said they “lived a joyful existence founded on service.” A few years later he met missionaries on the street in London and was eventually baptized on Christmas Eve 1987.

Two years after his baptism, Elder Kearon met Jennifer Hulme, a student at Brigham Young University in Provo. She was visiting London on a six-month study abroad. The couple married in the Oakland California Temple in 1991 and then lived in England for 19 years before relocating to Utah when he was called as a General Authority Seventy. They have four children: Sean (who died in infancy), Elizabeth, Susannah and Emma.

Before his call as a General Authority, Elder Kearon’s Church assignments included Area Seventy, stake president and branch president.

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

Gerald Causse

Elder Gérald Caussé was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Nov. 6, 2025, and ordained the same day by President Dallin H. Oaks and the other members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“I’ve always had a testimony of Jesus Christ,” Elder Caussé said. “He’s always been in the center of my life. I know Jesus Christ lives. And I know He’s our Savior and Redeemer. What a wonderful thing it is to be a witness of Christ. That’s the best responsibility or stewardship we might have in our lives.”

Elder Caussé is a native of Bordeaux, France. At the time of his call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he was in his 11th year of service as the Church’s Presiding Bishop. He was the third Presiding Bishop born outside the United States and the first for whom English is a second language. Elder Caussé also served as a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (2012-2015) and a General Authority Seventy (2008-2012).

Born on May 20, 1963, to Jean Caussé and Marie-Blanche Bonnet Caussé, Elder Caussé moved to Paris when he was 19. There he served one year of military service. He began dating Valérie Babin, who he had known since they were children when they were in the same ward in Paris. Both are secondgeneration Latter-day Saints. Elder Caussé’s parents were baptized when he was 6 months old; Valérie’s parents joined the Church when she was 3 years old.

They were married on Aug. 5, 1986, in the Bern Switzerland Temple, and they are the parents of five children. Elder Caussé’s assignments as a General Authority first took him and Valérie and three of their children to Germany, then

later to the United States.

Elder Caussé has served in numerous Church callings, including elders quorum president, counselor in a bishopric, counselor in a stake presidency, stake president, and Area Seventy. He received a master’s degree in business from ESSEC in 1987. His career was in strategy consulting and the food industry, where he worked with several retail and food distribution companies. At the time of his call as a General Authority Seventy, he was the managing director of Pomona, a food distribution company in France.

Elder Caussé is also an accomplished pianist and has participated in the recording of several piano albums.

In his address during the Church’s April 2025 general conference, he focused on the hope found in Jesus Christ. “This message of hope and comfort is for all of us, children of God,” Elder Caussé said. “None of us can escape the challenges and limitations of

Born: May 20, 1963, in Bordeaux, France

Ordained an apostle: Nov. 6, 2025

Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 62

mortality. After all, we are all born with an inherent incapacity to save ourselves. Yet we have a loving Savior, and ‘we know that it is by (His) grace that we are saved, after all we can do.’”

Source: news-my.churchofjesuschrist.org

Clark G. Gilbert

Elder Clark G. Gilbert is the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called on Feb. 11, 2026, and ordained on Feb. 12 by President Dallin H. Oaks and the other members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Gilbert was born in Oakland, California, and spent most of his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona. He has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2021 and as the Commissioner of the Church Educational System since August of that year.

From his earliest days, Elder Gilbert said his parents nurtured the idea that the gospel of Jesus Christ and education are naturally intertwined.

“They never made me think that education and the gospel were decoupled in any way — the more you have faith, the more you want to learn and grow, and the more you learn and grow, the deeper your faith can become,” he said in 2021.

Elder Gilbert obtained a bachelor’s

degree from Brigham Young University in 1994 in international relations. He continued his studies at Stanford (a master’s degree in East Asian studies in 1995) and Harvard (a doctorate in business administration in 2001). While he then joined Harvard’s faculty, his dream was always to teach at BYU.

That opportunity came, though at a different BYU.

Harvard colleague and mentor Kim B. Clark, who had become president of BYU-Idaho, invited Elder Gilbert and his wife, Christine, to consider bringing their gifts to Rexburg, Idaho. President Clark’s invitation included a challenge to “help us rethink Church education on a global scale.”

The Gilberts left Harvard Business School in 2006 and headed to BYUIdaho.

The new Apostle’s professional experience was rooted in mentoring students, navigating the ever-changing world of communication technology and building and leading large organizations.

After three years of helping students at BYU-Idaho, he filled assignments as CEO of Deseret Digital Media (2009), president of Deseret News (2010), president of BYU-Idaho (2015), and inaugural president of the global online offering known as BYU-Pathway Worldwide (2017) — an assignment he held until his call to full-time Church service.

His service as Commissioner of the Church Educational System involved oversight of BYU, BYU-Idaho, BYUHawaii, Ensign College, BYU-Pathway Worldwide and Seminaries and Institutes of Religion.

While discussing the success of BYU-Pathway several years ago with a nationally prominent educator, Elder Gilbert explained that the fruits of the

Born: June 18, 1970, in Oakland, California

Ordained an apostle: Feb. 12, 2026

Age at joining the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 55

program are its focus on each student’s divine potential. Since its beginning in 2009, BYU-Pathway has served more than 288,000 students in more than 180 countries.

“One of the miracles of this, the Lord’s Church, is that each of us can become something more in Christ,” Elder Gilbert said. “I know of no other organization that gives its members more opportunities to serve, give back, repent, and become better people. Whether we start in abundant or difficult circumstances, let us keep our sights and our slopes pointed heavenward. As we do, Christ will lift us to a higher place.”

In addition to his professional and educational leadership, Elder Gilbert served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Japan Kobe Mission, elders quorum president, counselor in a stake presidency, bishop and Area Seventy.

He and Christine were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1994. They are the parents of eight children.

Source: newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org

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