In tribute to President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on his 100th birthday, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared Monday as President Russell M. Nelson Day in Utah.
In the declaration honoring President Nelson’s dedication to “kindness, love and welcoming spirit,” Cox called out President Nelson’s “tireless efforts to build bridges of understanding and preserve freedoms.”
Born Sept. 9, 1924, to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson in Salt Lake City, President Nelson is the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was sustained and set apart on Jan. 14, 2018.
During his time as leader of the church, President Nelson has traveled to 35 nations, adjusted church organization, used technology to share the gospel, led the church through a pandemic and issued historic invitations. President Nelson has also addressed hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints — often in their own language — and called upon kings, presidents and prime ministers. He has comforted victims of crime and others who grieve, called children to him and linked arms with top leaders of the NAACP.
“President Nelson has called upon all of us to be peacemakers, emphasizing the importance of opening ‘our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own … for we are all children of a loving God,’” wrote Cox in the declaration.
Following is the declaration from Gov. Cox declaring Sept. 9, 2024, President Russell M. Nelson Day in Utah:
Whereas, President Russell Marion Nelson was born September 9, 1924, to Marion C. and Edna Anderson Nelson in Salt Lake City, Utah;
Whereas, President Nelson is the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sustained and set apart on January 14, 2018, and is the oldest president in the history of the church;
Whereas, President Nelson graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City as a valedictorian, received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from the University of Utah, then served his residency in surgery at University of Minnesota Hospitals and Massachusetts General Hospital, and was awarded a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota;
Whereas, President Nelson served honorably in the United States military, first in the United States Naval Reserve and later in the United States Army Medical Corps during the Korean War;
Whereas, President Nelson is an internationally renowned surgeon and medical researcher, having performed the first open-heart surgery in Utah at age 32, served as president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, chairman of the Council on Cardiovascular Surgery for the American Heart Association and president of the Utah State Medical Association;
Whereas, President Nelson has served in the Church in various capacities and callings throughout his lifetime, and was sustained and set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 7, 1984;
Whereas, President Nelson is the father of 10 children, 57 grandchildren, 167 great-grandchildren, and one great-great grandchild, and following the passing of his first wife, Dantzel White, in February 2005, married Wendy L. Watson in April 2006.
Whereas, President Nelson has called upon all of us to be peacemakers, emphasizing the importance of opening “our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own … for we are all children of a loving God;”
Whereas, President Nelson has made tireless efforts to build bridges of understanding and preserve freedoms, and was named the inaugural laureate of the Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize from Morehouse College in 2023;
Whereas, in commemoration of his 100th birthday, we honor his life’s dedication to kindness, love and welcoming spirit;
Now, therefore, I, Spencer J. Cox, governor of the state of Utah, do hereby declare September 9, 2024, as
President Russell M. Nelson Day in Utah
Spencer J. Cox, Governor