Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently sat in his Salt Lake City office with his youngest son for a podcast interview that would end in a hug between the two.
Elder Andersen and his son Derek Andersen spoke candidly for more than an hour about their faith and family, as well as Elder Andersen’s learnings serving as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for just over 17 years.
Derek Andersen published his and his father’s conversation as the 46th episode of his “Divot” podcast, available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Here is the episode and a few highlights from their conversation as father and son.
Apostleship: The ‘hardest part’ is also the best part
Derek Andersen asked his father what the hardest part of the work he does as a Latter-day Saint apostle is, and Elder Andersen replied it is helping people in pain.
“The hardest part is probably the most wonderful part, too,” he said. “It’s really being one on one with people in trouble.”
Ministering to people in their time of need is both humbling and satisfying, he added, because it enables him to see the strength, courage and faith of those he serves.
Derek Andersen also asked his father about the “common threads” he’s found between people as he’s ministered to them in “more than 50” countries around the world.
“Generally, people are very good,” Elder Andersen said. “They care about their families, they care about one another (and) they’re willing to help their neighbor.”
The “choices in life” every person faces are between “good and evil,” he added. “This is what every person on the earth is dealing with.”
Every person also carries a burden from time to time. “There’s a burden on every man and woman’s back in this world,” Elder Andersen said. “And that’s part of life is carrying that burden and working through it.”
Elder Andersen later spoke about how the languages he’s learned to speak — French, Spanish and Portuguese — have enabled him to connect more personally with those he ministers.
Languages link you to people, he said. “Language and culture, they are what people connect with.”
Elder Andersen also testified of the divine strength he has received many times as he has ministered around the world.
“I know the Lord rejuvenates us,” he said to his son. “He gives us that strength to do it, and it’s not just our strength, it’s a strength beyond our own.
“The Lord will do that for many noble causes, but especially for this one, where we’re speaking of his son Jesus Christ and our deep faith in him.”
Faith is a choice — here’s how to rebuild it
Derek Anderson expressed admiration for his father’s faith, saying: “You’re someone with an unusual amount of faith, … more than anyone I’ve ever seen.
“Where does your faith come from?”
Elder Andersen replied to his son, saying faith is like a “spiritual muscle” that can be developed upon one’s choosing.
Faith “comes from the desires deep inside of us,” he said. “We become who we desire to be, … (and) you can grow your faith if you desire it, if you’re willing to take that leap of trust and get on your knees and pray.”
Derek Andersen later asked his father what he would say to those who feel like their faith and memory of “spiritually defining memories” is dissolving, or to those who never felt faith to begin with.
“(To them) I say, ‘Let me help you, or let us help you,’” Elder Andersen said. “Start doing things you haven’t done.”
It is a leap to pray, open up the scriptures and associate with those who believe, he acknowledged — and it takes courage.
However, “you can regenerate that faith, you can regenerate your trust in God,” he said.
“I believe that. I’ve seen it a thousand times. I’ve seen it tens of thousands of times.”
‘I am the son of a preacher’
Elder Andersen chuckled when his son Derek Andersen declared: “I am the son of a preacher.”
The apostle then felt humbled by his son’s expressed admiration.
Some kids “don’t love to hear their father’s sermons,” Derek Andersen said. “But I do. I love to hear your sermons, I always have.
“And I know the kind of life you’ve lived. … You’re the person that people see.”
Humbled, Elder Andersen then acknowledged he is not perfect and spoke of his constant striving for humility.
“Humility is at the essence of spiritual power,” Elder Andersen said.
“I pray that I become more humble.”
Elder Andersen later shared the counsel one of his mentors once gave him, which was that “adulation will be our ruination.”
He then said that in order to continue growing and receiving direction in his role as an apostle, he needs to continue growing in humility.
“I need to be more meek (and) I need to listen more (and) talk less.”
Elder Andersen’s call to the apostleship — and his core responsibility
Elder Andersen and his son spoke for a while about Elder Andersen’s service and its implications on the family.
Elder Andersen’s wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, “would have been happy to live in the same house, in the same neighborhood her whole life, like her parents did,” Elder Andersen said.
“That was not her lot in life,” he added. But “she stood by these different responsibilities and supported me, supported the family (and) served in a beautiful way.”
Derek Andersen then asked his father to describe how his call to the apostleship was extended to him and what his feelings were when he received the call back in 2009.
“A very, very powerful spiritual feeling … just kind of radiated through my body,” Elder Andersen said of the moment he was called to serve as an apostle.
“I, of course, began to be very emotional,” he added. But President Thomas S. Monson, who extended him the call and was serving as church president at the time, comforted him.
“He wrapped those arms around me, hugged me, and then we sat down again” to talk about the call and other things he found important, Elder Andersen said. “He spoke of his love for me and his desire to have me succeed in this calling.”
Elder Andersen then spoke of what his core responsibility has been for the past 17 years he has been serving as a Latter-day Saint apostle.
“Above all else, (my responsibility) is to speak and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said, “that he is the Savior of the world, our Redeemer, that he’s resurrected … (and that) because of that, we will all live again.”
Christ’s “teachings are the essence of how we gain happiness and how we live with him forever.”