This summer will mark 20 years since Elder David A. Bednar, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Susan, moved to Rexburg, Idaho to lead BYU-Idaho.
In a unique sit-down interview with East Idaho News’ Nate Eaton, Elder and Sister Bednar shared memories and miracles that took place during their time in Rexburg. They also shared their testimonies and thoughts about their lives since Elder Bednar’s call to be an apostle in 2004.
Elder Bednar remembers receiving a phone call that changed his life from President Gordon B. Hinckley on Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004, between 2 and 3 p.m. Expecting a release as president of BYU-Idaho, Elder Bednar met with President Hinckley the following day.
“We visited for an hour and he extended the call to serve,” Elder Bednar remembers. “He asked how I felt, and I said, ‘President Hinckley, I’m stunned.’ He said, ‘Good, you should be.’”
Elder Bednar was told that he would need to turn in a 10-minute talk for the Sunday morning session of general conference the next day in order to allow time for translation into 107 languages. Upon leaving the meeting, Elder Bednar whispered in his wife’s ear to explain “what had just happened.”
“He said the first words out of my mouth were, ‘I don’t think I can do this.’ I really did feel that way and I’m sorry I did,” Sister Bednar said. “When you start to think about the longevity of this calling, it’s a long time and I wasn’t sure what do to. How do I know how to be an apostle’s wife?”
The Bednars shared that they have enjoyed the opportunity to meet members of the LDS Church around the world.
“When he was a bishop, I learned how to share him with the ward. When he was a stake president, I learned how to share him with the stake. When he was an Area Seventy, I learned how to share him with the area,” Sister Bednar said. “Now I’m trying to learn how to share him with the whole world. It’s been a great experience and the people we meet are extraordinary. We love them.”
They also shared their personal feelings about their association with the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency.
“As good as these men are in public, they’re even better in private,” Elder Bednar says. “I get to see them when they have heartache in a family or physical pain when they’re suffering with something. Sometimes you read in the Book of Mormon and wonder what would it be like to know Captain Moroni. I serve with 14 of them. They are that good.”
Elder Bednar took the opportunity to publicly express gratitude for his wife.
"I just want to say one thing about Susan," Elder Bednar said. "There's a lot of notoriety, a lot of visibility when one is called to the position that I'm presently in but one of the things that I absolutely know is that that's only possible because of Susan. She makes the much more Christlike offering. She doesn't get public acclaim but the Lord for whatever he saw in me could only see it because of her."
Watch the entire interview and read the story here.