• Picks Oaks, Eyring as counsellors
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has lived up to its tradition by naming Russell M. Nelson the 17th president of the church.
Nelson, 93, who was the president of the church’s Quorum of Twelves Apostles and most senior apostle, succeeds Thomas S. Monson, who died on January 2.
Unveiling President Nelson in an precedented live broadcast from the Salt Lake Temple, Utah, USA, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of Twelve and chairman of the church’s Public Affairs Committee, said the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles met on Sunday and voted to reconstitute the First Presidency, which was dissolved automatically when Monson died. He said the quorum voted to make the senior apostle, President Nelson, the church’s new president. Elder Christofferson said after President Nelson’s selection, he picked President Dallin H. Oaks as his first counselor and President Henry B. Eyring as his second counselor.
After being selected as president of the LDS church, Nelson said: “I declare my devotion to God our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I pledge to serve them with every remaining breath of my life.”
On his selection of Oaks and Eyring as counsellors, President Nelson said: “It was a sacred and humbling experience. How could I choose only two of the 12 apostles, each of whom I love dearly.” He thanked Elders Oaks and Eyring for accepting their new roles.
As the second senior apostle after Nelson, Elder Oaks becomes the president of the Quorum of the Twelve. However, the third in seniority, President M. Russell Ballard, will be acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve, since Elder Oak is First counsellor in the First Presidency.
President Oaks was called as an apostle at the same time as President Nelson in 1984, but ordained several weeks afterward because a work assignment outside Utah kept him from attending the general conference where he was called. He expressed gratitude and love for President Nelson, whom he has sat next to in the quorum for 34 years.
The unveiling of Nelson as new president of the LDS church and his naming of Oaks and Eyring as counsellors have ended the 12-day apostolic interregnum since President Monson’s death. During these periods, the Quorum of the Twelve administers the church. It was the longest since 1889, when 20 months passed during the transition from President John Taylor to President Woodruff.
Former second counsellor to the late President Monson, Elder Deiter Uchtdorf, had returned to his place in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. to the church members, President Nelson said: “For each one of you, I’m most humbly grateful.” .He invited those who had left the church to return saying, “Whatever your challenges, there is a place for you in this church.”