Some Thoughts About Current and Future Apostles

Hello again, everyone! I am back as promised, with some thoughts about current and future apostles. Let's get right to that.

With Elder Uchtdorf's return to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he rejoins the other two that, along with him, were born in 1940 (with Elder Cook on September 8, Elder Uchtdorf on November 6, and Elder Holland on December 3). It is also interesting to me that the three apostles born in 1940 were called in the reverse order, with Elder Holland in June 1994, Elder Uchtdorf in October 2004, and Elder Cook in October 2007.

We also, as you may be aware, have two apostles each that were born in 1951 (Elder Rasband on February 6, and his seatmate Elder Andersen roughly six months later on August 9) and 1952 (Elder Bednar on June 15 and Elder Renlund just under five months later on November 13).

The two born in 1951 were called in the opposite order, with Elder Andersen being called in April 2009 and Elder Rasband in October 2015. As for Elders Bednar and Renlund, the former was called in October 2004, and the latter in October 2015.

Now, if I may, I'd like to offer some thoughts about the ages at which our current apostles were called and at which future apostles may be called. As we know, President Monson, prior to his death, was the youngest apostle called of the group, having received his apostolic call at the age of 36. His death means that, of the current apostles, the oldest at the time of his call was Elder Cook at 67.1 years, with the new "youngest" apostle to be called being Elder Oaks, who was 51.7 years old at the time of his call.

In anticipation of the reorganization of the First Presidency that we saw today, I have begun the preliminary process of gathering some thoughts about who might be called to fill the two vacancies in the Quorum, the one resulting from the death of Elder Hales in October, the other from the reorganization process.

In doing so, I am looking at more recent apostles (primarily those called under President Monson's administration) for my guide on a rough target of ages to place my focus. There were five such appointments, which ranged in age from that of Elder Andersen (who was 57.7 years old at the time of his ordination) to his seatmate, Elder Christofferson, who was 63.3 years old when he was so ordained. For that reason, I will be centralizing my focus on those candidates who are in their early 50s-early 60s. There is a possibility that the two new apostles could be older or younger than that range, but it seems a safe assumption for now that that won't be the case.

I should also note that I liked the way the new First Presidency (who were all born in America) responded to the question about international outreach. The response was essentially an echo of what had previously been said by our three newest apostles at the October 2015 press conference held in which they addressed and took questions from the media: the three are called to represent the Lord to the people, not the other way around, and they are also called to minister worldwide, and not just to those within the US where they were all born.

Each has been tested by proven service and a ministry the scope of which has been worldwide. As President Nelson observed, he and his counselors have roughly (rounding up) 91 years of apostolic experience, in which they have traveled round the world quite extensively. With nearly a century's worth of worldwide ministry to Church members in their favor, no one should question their ability to relate to and receive revelation for all members.

By the same token, while it would be wonderful to see one (or both) new apostles being called from a foreign country, if those called are born in the US but have had international experiences either prior to or in conjunction with their calls as general authorities, and their subsequent assignment as apostles, no one can (or should) have reason to accuse those selected of being other American-born men.

Since President Nelson said he sees in the Church's future a day when there will be more diversity in terms of foreign apostles, until that time, it is our duty to gain a testimony that whomever will be called during any prophetic administration (whether born in the US or from a foreign country) are those the Lord would have come to those positions at those times.

Those regular readers of this blog will no doubt be aware that I am fiercely loyal to the leading Brethren of the Church, whomever they may be, and that I will not condone on the part of anyone within the scope of my influence any unjust criticism of such leaders or the process by which they are called. And I hope the same is true for each of you. If you do not have such a witness regarding the wonderful way such calls are issued and accepted (by both those receiving them and by those of us who should sustain them for the duration of that calling), I would implore such individuals to take the time to go through the necessary processes to obtain such a witness.

In my case, the minute I got the news of the new leaders, it felt right to me in that very moment. So I know those changes have been inspired. I leave these thoughts with you, along with my unshakable witness that the Lord guides the process of selecting his leaders, from the President of the Church on down to the newest deacon's quorum president or Young Women's class president, and it is our right and duty to gain a witness of that process and to share it when we have received it, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.