Both the Young Women and Young Men general presidencies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will change, as announced during the 193rd Annual General Conference Saturday afternoon session.
The new Young Women general presidency, effective Aug. 1, 2023, is:
- President Emily Belle Freeman
- Sister Tamara Wood Runia, first counselor
- Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor
President Bonnie H. Cordon and her counselors, Sister Michelle D. Craig and Sister Rebecca L. Craven, were first called in March 2018 and sat on the stand at the Conference Center holding hands during the announcement of their release.
The counselors in the Young Men presidency will be Bradley Ray Wilcox as first counselor (formerly second counselor) and Michael T. Nelson as second counselor. Stephen J. Lund remains the president.
The former first counselor, Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, was called to be a General Authority Seventy on Saturday.
What we know about the new General Young Women General Presidency
President Emily Belle Freeman was raised in Utah and is a well-known Latter-day Saint author of books that testify of Jesus Christ and God in her everyday life, she says in her website bio. Along with being an author, she is a speaker known for her podcast about the church’s “Come, Follow Me” study guide and at a the popular event Time Out for Women, per LDS Living. She and her husband have five children.
Sister Tamara W. Runia, who grew up in California, is an active participant in the community and has served in multiple stake callings, such as her stake’s scripture class instructor, stake Young Women president and counselor in the stake Relief Society presidency, according to Church News. She has seven children with her husband.
Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and served a full-time mission in the Argentina Resistencia Mission during her youth, per the church. Throughout her life, she has been with the young people of the church as an advisor for a young single adult Spanish-speaking ward. She also taught early morning seminary. With her husband, she served in the Mexico Cuernavaca Mission from 2009 to 2012, and the couple has two daughters together.
What we know about the new Young Men General Presidency counselors
Brother Bradley R. Wilcox was born in Provo, per his bio page. He has been a professor of Brigham Young University’s Ancient Scripture department and is author of two books — “His Grace is Sufficient” and “The Continuous Atonement.” He served as a full-time missionary in the Chile Vina del Mar Mission, and later served in the callings of bishop, mission president of the Chile Santiago East Mission and counselor in a young single adult stake presidency. He and his wife have four children, per Church News.
Brother Michael T. Nelson is from Salt Lake City, per Church News. He served a mission in his youth in the Chile Santiago Mission and later with his wife in the California San Bernardino Mission. He’s worked as a chief financial officer and studied communications at BYU and the University of Utah. He and his wife have nine children together.