Neil L. Andersen

Neil Linden Andersen (born August 9, 1951) is an American religious leader and former business executive who serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was sustained by church membership as an apostle on April 4, 2009, during the church's General Conference. At the time of his call to the Twelve, Andersen had been serving as an LDS general authority since 1993, including service in the Presidency of the Seventy from 2005 to 2009.[1] Currently, he is tenth apostle in order of seniority in the church.[2]

Neil L. Andersen
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 4, 2009 (2009-04-04) - Present
LDS Church Apostle
April 9, 2009 (2009-04-09)
ReasonDeath of Joseph B. Wirthlin
Presidency of the Seventy
August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) – April 4, 2009 (2009-04-04)
End reasonCalled to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
First Quorum of the Seventy
April 3, 1993 (1993-04-03) – April 4, 2009 (2009-04-04)
End reasonCalled to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Personal details
BornNeil Linden Andersen
(1951-08-09) August 9, 1951
Logan, Utah, United States
EducationBrigham Young University
Harvard Business School (MBA)
Spouse(s)Kathy Sue Williams
(1975-present)
Children4

Andersen was born in Logan, Utah and raised near Pocatello, Idaho.[3] As a young man, he served in France as a missionary for the LDS Church. After his mission, he graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in economics and was elected student body vice president.[4] He later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1977.[4] He later lived and worked in Tampa, Florida, where he was the vice president of the Morton Plant Health System.[3] While in Tampa, Andersen served in the LDS Church as a stake president.

LDS Church service

Andersen was president of the church's France Bordeaux Mission from 1989 to 1992. In 1993, he was called as a general authority and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.[5] As a general authority, he has been the assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department. He has also been in the presidencies of the church's Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and Europe West areas. He also served as president of the Brazil South Area. Andersen was the executive director of the Church Audiovisual Department and managed the development of the film The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd and supervised the launch of the Web site Mormon.org.[3] From 1997 to 2001, Andersen was a member of the general presidency of the church's Sunday School.

In 2005, Andersen became a member of the Presidency of the Seventy. In this capacity, he directed the affairs of the church in the Idaho Area and in 2006, he broke ground for the construction of the Twin Falls Idaho Temple. In 2007, Andersen was reassigned to preside over the North America Southwest Area. From August 2008 to April 2009, Andersen was the senior member of the seven-man presidency. On February 14, 2009, he broke ground for the construction of The Gila Valley Arizona Temple, located in Central, Arizona.[6]

Quorum of the Twelve

In April 2009, Andersen was called by church president Thomas S. Monson to fill the vacancy created in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by the death of Joseph B. Wirthlin the previous year. In July 2013, Andersen attended the 2013 National Scout Jamboree and spoke to the 3,000 LDS Boy Scouts in attendance, one of the larger Sunday services he has attended.[7] On July 1, 2016 Andersen threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game as part of their long-running 'Mormon Night' tradition.[8] Andersen reaffirmed the LDS Church's stance on marriage in the April 2019 general conference.[9][10] Anderson remarked, "While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not."[11]

Personal life

Andersen married Kathy Sue Williams in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975 while still students at BYU.[3] They are the parents of four children.[12]

References
  1. Taylor, Scott. "New member of Quorum of Twelve: Elder Neil L. Andersen", Deseret News, Utah, 4 April 2009. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  2. Apostolic seniority is generally understood to include all ordained apostles (including the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Seniority is determined by date of ordination, not by age or other factors. If two apostles are ordained on the same day, the older of the two is typically ordained first. See Succession to the presidency and Heath, Steven H. (Summer 1987). "Notes on Apostolic Succession" (PDF). Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 20 (2): 44–56..
  3. "Getting to know Neil L. Andersen", Provo Herald, 24 September 2009. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  4. Lambert, Karen. "Mother of an Apostle: Day special for valley's Kay Andersen", The Herald Journal, Utah, 10 May 2009. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  5. Ricks, Taylor. "Elder Neil L. Andersen to speak at Education Week", The Daily Universe, 5 August 2015. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  6. Johnson, Jon. "The Gila Valley Arizona Temple groundbreaking video", Eastern Arizona Courier, 17 February 2009. Retrieved on 30 March 2020.
  7. Krogue, Ken. "Apostle Neal L. Andersen Warns LDS Scouts of Pornography", Utah National Parks Council Blog, Utah, 22 July 2013. Retrieved on 22 April 2019.
  8. Lesley, Alison. "LDS Elder Andersen Throws Strike at Dodger Game", World Religion News, 12 July 2016. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  9. McCombs, Brady. "Mormon Leaders Talk Spirituality, Not Changes, at Conference", US News, 6 April 2019. Retrieved on 22 April 2019.
  10. "Same-sex marriage opposition reiterated", The Washington Post, 5 April 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  11. "Resist Call of Marriage for Gays, Mormon Leader Says", The New York Times, 4 October 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
  12. "How old is each member of the LDS First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve?", Provo Herald, Utah, 5 October 2019. Retrieved on 18 February 2020.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles
Preceded by
D. Todd Christofferson		 Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
April 4, 2009 –		 Succeeded by
Ronald A. Rasband
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