Honoring Elder Quentin L. Cook on His 82nd Birthday

Hello again, everyone! I am back to share some thoughts about Elder Quentin L. Cook in honor of his 82nd birthday today. Let's dive right into that subject. Quentin LaMar Cook was born to J. Vernon and Bernice Cook on this day in 1940 in Logan, Utah. His ancestry includes his great-great-grandfather, Elder Heber C. Kimball, who was one of the original apostles of the Church and who was instrumental in bringing the gospel to England and supporting the Prophet Joseph Smith at key moments when apostates made efforts to replace Brother Joseph as the Lord's mouthpiece.

Young Quentin was a middle child, having an older brother and a younger sister. He grew up in a very gospel-centered home, although his father eventually lost interest in Church activity .At age 15, he had a discussion with his brother Joe that changed his life. Joe was unsure whether to continue with his medical school studies, or to delay that in order to serve a mission, with their father favoring the former. During that conversation, they determined that either the gospel was true or it wasn't, and that if it was, serving a mission would be the best use of Joe's time. Joe’s decision to go resulted in young Quentin eventually accepting his own call to serve in the British Mission.

One of his two mission presidents was Elder Marion D. Hanks, who simultaneously served as a general authority. At one point during his mission, his companion was Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Though the two didn't know it at the time, both would go on to serve as General Authority Seventies and as colleagues in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Elder Cook later noted the following in relation to Elder Holland:

"Sometimes we receive revelation even when we do not know the Lord’s purposes. Shortly before Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was called to be an Apostle in June of 1994, I had a beautiful revelatory experience that he would be called. I was a regional representative and could see no reason I would be given that knowledge. But we were companions as young missionaries in England in the early 1960s, and I had a great love for him. I considered the experience a tender mercy for me. In recent years, I have wondered if the Lord was preparing me to be junior in the Twelve to an incredible missionary companion who was my junior companion when we were young missionaries. I sometimes warn young missionaries to be kind to their junior companions because they never know when they might be their senior companion."

Elder Cook returned from his mission with a strong testimony of the Savior and a resolve to associate with people who love the Savior, both within and outside of the Church. He married his high school sweetheart Mary Gaddie in the Logan Utah Temple on November 30, 1962. Their posterity includes three children and numerous grandchildren.

He graduated from Utah State University with a degree in political science and from Stanford University with a juris doctorate degree.As a managing partner in a San Francisco Bay area law firm, he specialized in business law. He later became president and chief executive officer of California Healthcare System, and vice chairman of Sutter Health Systems. His church service has included being a bishop, stake president’s counselor (during a period of time when his brother Joe was president of that same stake), stake president, regional representative, and area authority. While he was in the stake presidency, he was instilled with a love of people from all nations when he had responsibility for Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog, Mandarin, and Cantonese congregations.

He was named a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy on April 6, 1996, and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 4, 1998. He served as a member of area presidencies in the Philippines, the Pacific, and North America, and he also served executive director of the Church Missionary Department during the period of time that "Preach My Gospel" was developed and instituted as the standard guidebook for missionaries, and was subsequently called to the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2007.

Nine days after that, the death of President James E. Faust, who had been serving as Second Counselor to Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, would wind up having an unexpected impact on Elder Cook's life. As the October General Conference rolled around, then-Elder Henry B. Eyring was called as President Hinckley's new Second Counselor, which created a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. On October 6, 2007, Elder Cook was sustained to fill that vacancy, and he was ordained an apostle five days later.

Elder Cook has spoken 32 times in General Conference: twice as a General Authority Seventy and 30 additional times in the almost-15 years since his call to the apostleship. I am grateful for his service as a special witness of Christ, and I wholeheartedly sustain him and the other apostles.

In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines.

I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below.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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Data

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on July 17, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents. The first part also includes updated information on the tenure length records for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

The first document also shows information on the three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (which will not be updated with the First Presidency as presently constituted until 2024), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles).

The latest version of that document also shows when the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as currently comprised will move up on the list of the longest-serving Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to specifics on when the current members of that Quorum, along with the current First Presidency, will reach the next milestones on that list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the apostolic groups overall, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list, and the timing noted for when each of the other 12 apostles will join that list).

Hopefully this shared data will be of interest to you all, and again, I offer an open invitation to anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I will, of course, continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of all such reports. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.

BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Parameters for the October 2022 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! On this Friday, I am pleased to share some breaking news from the First Presidency: in a letter to be read in all Sacrament Meetings this Sunday, the parameters have been set for the October 2022 General Conference (in order to access the contents, you'll need to sign into the Church website with your Church account). The letter indicates that the conference will consist of five general sessions for all members, including one on Saturday evening. 

The details provided in the letter were later confirmed in a report from the Church News while this post was being put together here. With that announcement in mind, it appears as though my interpretation of both last July's announcement about the Saturday evening session and the introductory First Presidency message given by President Oaks at the beginning of last April's Womens' Session is correct: the focus and audience for the Saturday evening sessions will be determined by revelation on a conference-by-conference basis. 

Some people reportedly complained that the Church abandoned the specially-focused sessions (Priesthood in April and Women's in October) only to reinstate that with the Women's Session last April. But as President Oaks announced in April, the focus and audience will be determined on a conference-by-conference basis. Parenthetically, it's a valid point to me that the April 2022 General Conference featured a Women's Session since that was the closest conference held to the late March 180th anniversary of the establishment of the Relief Society organization. 

And the establishment of that organization eventually led to the creation of the Relief Society, Primary, and youth programs as we know them today. I could see the Church doing something similarly special in April 2029, to mark the 200th anniversary of the restoration of the Priesthood, and in April 2030, to mark the Church's bicentennial, particularly since, if current traditions hold, the Saturday of that conference will coincide with the exact bicentennial day.

So that leads me to my next point: with the general session for all members, who might speak? As reflected in my General Conference predictions, I would anticipate at least 1 or 2 General Officers, 1 member from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and one member of the First Presidency. The only questions in my mind are whether that would be President Nelson (since President Eyring spoke then last October and President Oaks did so in April) or whether the counselors will continue to alternate, and how many other speakers there might be.

In terms of the second question, the number of speakers in that Saturday evening session has varied in recent General Conferences of the Church. In April 2020, there were 7, with 6 each the following October and April, 8 in October 2021, and 5 in April of this year. If Presidents Oaks or Eyring speaks during that session, it's possible they could also give a short introductory address specific to that session.  

If President Nelson speaks, we could either see a shorter or normal-length talk from the prophet, which may affect how many other talks he gives and their respective lengths. As far as how many other speakers the session will feature, that's anyone's guess. The announcement also notes that the Saturday evening session will be 90 minutes, as opposed to the other sessions, which will be 120, and that could also impact the speaker lineup.

Nothing would surprise me at this point. The announcement also notes that, due to ongoing renovations of the Salt Lake Temple and Temple Square, in-person attendance at the Conference Center will be limited. Last April, the cap was 10,000 (with the Conference Center half-full as a result). There could be that same number or slightly lowered as a result. In any case, my unexpected discovery of the letter answered a lot of questions on my end.

I was grateful to have found that, and hope this post has been illuminating for you all. I continue to monitor all other Church news updates and temple construction developments and will be sure to bring word of those to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. 

If you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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.