The rededication of the Washington D.C. Temple on Aug. 14, 2022, marked the first trip outside of Utah since the COVID-19 pandemic for President Russell M. Nelson, the 17th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
After the event President Nelson sat down with media for a brief interview in the nearby visitor’s center.
I asked him how he felt to be out among the people again.
He leaned forward with intentionality.
“I’ve really never left them,” he said.
Those words came rushing back to my mind as, hours ago, I learned about the death of President Nelson — a pioneering heart surgeon who led a global membership of 17.5 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ into his 101st year.
President Nelson was 93 when he took the helm of the church on Jan. 14, 2018. In the years that followed he traveled to 35 nations, changed Church organization, utilized technology, issued historic invitations and built bridges of understanding.
He also addressed hundreds of thousands of Latter-day Saints — often in their own language — and called upon kings, presidents and prime ministers. He comforted victims of crime and others who grieve, called children to him, led the church through a global pandemic and linked arms with top leaders of the NAACP.
When the pandemic, and later his own health challenges, limited his ability to attend in-person gatherings, he utilized technology to share messages.
As a reporter and editor for the Deseret News and Church News, I observed President Nelson’s ministry in nations across the globe and wrote hundreds of articles about his ministry.
Yet now as I ponder his most remarkable legacy — my thoughts turn away from the public moments to quiet, simple interactions.
For example, in May of 2019, I was in Australia covering President Nelson’s global ministry when he walked in the room where members of the media team were unpacking their equipment. He said hello and then greeted everyone in the room by name. (Until that moment we didn’t even know he knew our names.) Then, as he was leaving, he turned and said that he had prayed for each of us that morning by name.
During a similar trip to South America in September of 2019, President Nelson gathered in a small room with a group of youth.
One of the young women had prepared a gift for him which had been placed in a gift bag. She proudly presented it to President Nelson.
In the chaotic moments after the youth meeting, while everyone was taking photographs, and the church leaders were preparing to leave the room, President Nelson paused and asked about the gift. I told him I would make sure church security received it.
Instead, however, he asked to personally carry it — to acknowledge the giver.
In October of 2018, President Nelson gathered with a small group of young men and young women before addressing almost 6,000 in a member devotional broadcast throughout the country. When he asked for questions one young woman spoke up: “What do I do if I am the only member in my family?” she said.
President Nelson did not hesitate. He looked her in the eyes and said, “You and I are just alike.”
At first, I didn’t understand what President Nelson meant by that response. He was a world-renowned heart surgeon in his 90s who, consequently, had just met with the president of Peru. She was a young girl, wondering about her place in a global faith.
President Nelson spoke of his own youth, where he was the only active member of the church in his family. Then he made her a promise. “Your family and your friends will see the light of the gospel reflected in you,” he said
In an op-ed published earlier this month on Sept. 5 — days before his 101st birthday — President Nelson wrote that every person has inherent worth and dignity. And he taught that everyone of God’s children should be treated with compassion and respect.
He not only preached these principles, but he lived them.
On one occasion I published an article about President Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, before realizing I had made an error. The mistake had unfortunately been duplicated thousands of times when the newspaper had gone to press.
I drafted a brief message to President and Sister Nelson explaining the error, apologizing and promising a correction. To my great surprise and astonishment, President Nelson responded personally.
He addressed me by name, “Thank you dear Sarah.” He said nothing about the mistake, instead expressing confidence in me and my abilities. He signed his message with the word “gratefully.”
President Nelson expressed confidence and gratitude in a moment that should have sown doubt. He didn’t see me for who I was, but for who he believed I had the potential to become.
With a heart brimming with confidence for all of God’s children, I think that is the way President Nelson saw everyone.
The last time I saw President Nelson was at the dedication of the Syracuse Utah Temple on June 8. He greeted me, and then acknowledging the numerous times I stayed up all night writing about his ministry. He asked me if I was getting enough sleep.
It is ironic that, tonight, as I ponder President Nelson’s life, I am writing this column well into the night.
How we will miss this dynamic, thoughtful and tender leader.
But his invitations, testimony and example stay with us. We can carry on his legacy by seeing others not only as they are now, but also for who they can become.
Then we can all imagine him saying, “I’ve really never left them.”