Hello again, everyone! With midnight having passed moments ago here in Utah, it is now August 9, and Elder Neil L. Andersen is celebrating his 68th birthday today. So I wanted to post and share some highlights of his life and ministry in the Church. Let's get right into all of that. Neil Linden Andersen was born on this day in 1951 to Lyle and Kathryn Andersen in Logan, Utah. His family relocated to Pocatello when he was five to run a dairy farm. He served a full-time mission in France, then obtained a bachelor's degree in economics, eventually earning his MBA from Harvard, also in economics. During his time at BYU, he met and married his wife, Kathy Sue Anderson, and together they raised four children.
He spent his professional career working various jobs. At the pinnacle of his career, he was Vice President of the Morton Plant Health System. He has served in the Church as a stake president’s counselor, stake president and mission president, assigned to the France Bordeaux Mission from 1989-1992. Less than a year after his return, he was called to be a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. Interestingly, his call as a General Authority occurred in the same conference as that of his future apostolic seatmate, Elder D. Todd Christofferson.
During the time Elder Andersen served as a General Authority Seventy, he filled a wide variety of Church assignments, including executive director of the church's Audiovisual Department, assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department, and in the presidencies of the following areas: Europe West Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and the Brazil South Area (during which time he served as the area president). In August of 2005, Elder Andersen was called to the Presidency of the Seventy. His call coincided with that of his other future apostolic seatmate, Elder Rasband.
While serving in the Presidency of the Seventy, he had oversight for the Idaho Area (from 2005-2007) and for the North America Southwest Area (from 2007-2009). In 2005, as a result of his call and that of Elder Rasband as members of that Presidency, he was the second most-junior member thereof. By the time his assignment changed, he had become the third-most-senior member, with only Elders Earl C. Tingey and D. Todd Christofferson senior to him. The latter was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in April 2008, and Elder Tingey was released the following August, in preparation for his being granted emeritus status in the October General Conference. As a result, Elder Andersen thus became the new Senior President of the Seventy.
He would only serve in that capacity for 8 months. In view of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin’s death in December 2008, Elder Andersen was subsequently called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the April 2009 General Conference. Interestingly enough, three future apostles (Elders Christofferson, Andersen, and Rasband) were seatmates in the Presidency of the Seventy between August 2007 and April 2008, and they would each go on to be called to the apostleship in that same order (in April 2008, April 2009, and October 2015, respectively.
Quick sidenote here which may be of interest to some of you: 8 of our 15 current apostles were serving in the Presidency of the Seventy at the time they received their apostolic calls (President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Gerrit W. Gong, and Ulisses Soares). This suggests to me that, whenever future apostolic vacancies exist, the current members of the Presidency of the Seventy at that time may be top candidates to fill them. Of course, the Lord knows who He needs to be called to the apostleship and when, but that is an important note, all the same.
Gettingh back to Elder Andersen, he has given a total of 26 addresses in General Conference. Among those are 2 which were given as a General Authority Seventy, 3 others given as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the remaining 21 since his call to the apostleship. I am grateful for Elder Andersen's ministry, and I joyfully and wholeheartedly sustain him and each and every one of his 14 fellow apostles as prophets, seers and revelators. I appreciate every opportunity I have had to learn more about each of these Brethren through their spoken words and worldwide ministry efforts as special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Friday, August 9, 2019
A Tribute to Elder Neil L. Andersen on His 68th Birthday
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
4 comments:
In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.
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It is also interesting to note that Elder Andersen speaks French, Spanish and Portuguese. Patzicia.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Patzicia. You are correct. Within the last decade, quite a few of the apostles called have been bilingual or multilingual. It is wonderful to see that occuring, as it is a reflection of the ever-diverse nature of Church members today. Very valid point. I appreciate you sharing that here. Always great to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! I have some additional Church news and temple updates to share at this time. First of all, for whatever the reason, it appears that the Church News has not published tribute articles in honor of the birthdays of Elders Gary E. Stevenson (on the 6th of this moth) and Neil L. Andersen. I assume there is a reason for that, but it is odd all the same.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the first article focuses on the recent BYU-Provo Law Camp that was held in order to provide young Church members and friends of other faiths some insight into how laws are made, upheld, and adjudicated:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2019-08-09/legislature-byu-law-camp-judges-teens-155734
Next, the latest edition of "This WEek on Social" has been published. Posts from the following Church leaders were featured in this latest installment:
Church President Russell M. Nelson (from whom 2 posts were featured); Acting President M. Russell Ballard (from whom 2 posts were also featured) and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Young Women General President Bonnie H. Cordon and her First Counselor, Michelle D. Craig; Sister Lisa L. Harkness, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency; and Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency.
You can find the summaries of those posts, and links to the social media sites on which they were published, at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-ministry/2019-08-09/this-week-on-social-houston-astros-game-155835
Also, in other Church-related news, it has usually been customary for me to receive my copy of the Ensign each month either in the last few days of the month prior to the month for which each such magazine is published, or within the first few days of the month for which each edition was published. So when the 7th rolled around with no sign of the magazine, I sent out an e-mail inquiry to the online store. I received a reply yesterday noting that, due to a server error that impacted usual mailing deliveries of those magazines, they were late being delivered. I was advised that, if my monthly subscription did not arrive today, I couldd let them know and they would replace it. It turns out my August subscription arrived either today or yesterday. But I wanted to mention that here for anyoone else who may have experienced the same problem. If any of you who usually get your magazines before now do not have them yet, you can get in touch with your local distribution center for more information, and, if necessary, a replacemen. Just thought that would be good information to pass along. Temple updates will follow in a subsequent comment. For now, my thanks again to you all.
I am back now with the temple updates I promised. With the open house fully underway now for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple, tours will continue to be offered through next Saturday (August 17). Meanwhile, at the site of the Durban South Africa Temple, preparation is underway to pour the front steps thereof. Marble baseboards, wooden doors, and trim are also being installed. The process of gilding both the sealing and Celestial rooms contines as well, and on the temple grounds, driveway pavers are being laid, and landscaping is progressing.
DeleteAs final landscaping efforts are underway for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, work on the water feature is nearing its' completion, and interior work is making steady progress. I would anticipate an announcement of the open house and dedication arrangements for this temple may be announced within the next 2-3 weeks, but certainly sooner, if all goes well.
And while the underlayment for the roofing is being applied to the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, the exterior walls thereof have been completely attached. And at the Pocatello Idaho Temple site, while the work of pouring the foundation walls and footings continues, concrete blocks are being placed for the temple's retaining walls. Also, regarding the Belem Brazil Temple, heavy equipment is clearing the site in preparation for its’ groundbreaking ceremony a week from tomorrow.
And I may or may not have mentioned this before, but if I haven't, the parking lot is being demolished as the renovation process continues for the Washington D.C. Temple. Finally, I have previously mentioned that a CHurch member living in Mexico has indicated that a site has been procured for the Puebla Mexico Temple. That Church member made the following statement on that location: "A planned spot for the upcoming Puebla Temple is not near a Stake Center, but is close (roughly 500m, one-third of a mile), from the Aquilles Serdan chapel."
From this comment, in addition to what the same individual has said in other recent comments here, the spot in question will almost certainly be used for that temple. He further told me that from what he's heard about that temple, the preliminary plans call for a similar concept, design, and size as that of the Tijuana Mexico Temple.
As I also mentioned in the recent past, I am hoping at least 2-3 temples havve a groundbreaking prior to the October General Conference, but we will have to see what happens there. In the meantime, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of those to you all here as I receive it. For now, my thanks once again to you all.