During the Saturday afternoon session of the 191st Annual General Conference on April 3, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, announced the call of eight General Authority Seventies and a new Primary general presidency.
Brief biographies about each member of the new Primary general presidency are included below. A more in-depth profile on each will appear in coming weeks.
President Camille N. Johnson
Camille Neddo Johnson has spent her life crafting words and engaging and loving people.
She studied words as an English major at the University of Utah. She used them to help people solve problems during her more than 30-year career as a lawyer. And she has always found great peace in the words she reads in the scriptures. The people whose stories are told in the scriptures are counted among her fondest friends.
Still, when she and her husband moved to South America to lead the Perú Arequipa Mission from 2016 to 2019 — she longed for words.
Having never studied Spanish, she prayed for the ability to communicate with missionaries and members, and that they would feel her love for them and her testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. “I trusted in the Lord, and relied upon the Spirit to communicate my love and testimony when words failed me. What a sweet and poignant lesson I learned to lean not to my own understanding but to give it all over to my Savior.”
Along the way she relearned the simple truth of the gospel. “It is about loving the Savior, loving like the Savior, and letting the love and Atonement of Jesus Christ work in our lives.”
She was blessed with an immediate love for the mission’s 552 missionaries and now feels her heart expand to love the one million children for whom she has a stewardship.
“I relish this opportunity to learn from the children who are a reflection of the pure love of Jesus Christ,” she said.
Camille Neddo was born in September 1963 to Hal and Dorothy Neddo in Pocatello, Idaho; she married Douglas R. Johnson on July 31, 1987, in the Salt Lake Temple. They have three sons and three grandchildren.
She graduated from the University of Utah in English in 1985 and from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 1989. She worked more than 30 years as a lawyer, most recently as the president of Snow Christensen & Martineau law firm. A former ward Young Women president, Sister Johnson has also served as a gospel doctrine instructor and member of ward Relief Society and Primary presidencies.
Sister Susan H. Porter, first counselor
After losing her husband, Elder Bruce D. Porter, a General Authority Seventy, to a pulmonary infection in December 2016, Sister Susan Porter found herself alone at their home in Bountiful, Utah.
For the nearly two years prior, Elder Porter had been serving as president of the Europe East Area, and they lived in Moscow, Russia. She traveled and served alongside him, ministering to Latter-day Saints in the area.
As a new widow, she was unsure what to do, and prayed to the Lord for guidance.
One day she was thumbing through the mail when she stumbled upon a catalog with a painting of the Savior talking to a woman at the well (John 4). She felt the Spirit whisper, “That’s what you’re supposed to do.” In other words, “Sit at the feet of the Savior and learn, and He will teach you.”
Sister Porter strived to draw closer to the Savior, and the power of the Holy Ghost comforted her and led her forward. Looking back, she said, “I know I was carried. I had strength and peace beyond my own.”
As Primary children around the world face difficult experiences, Sister Porter wants them to know deep in their hearts how much they are loved by our Heavenly Father and His Son, the Lord, Jesus Christ. “If Jesus were with them now, He would take them one by one, and bless them, and pray for them, just as He did for the Nephite children long ago (3 Nephi 17:21). I hope each child will pray for His help and ask to see His loving hand in their own life.”
Susan Holland Porter was born in July 1955, in Ponca City, Oklahoma to Hans J. and Charlene Coleman Holland. She married Elder Porter on Feb. 2, 1977, in the Washington D.C. Temple. They have four married children and 12 grandchildren. She has volunteered with various community and civic organizations.
At the time of her call to the Primary general presidency, Sister Porter had been serving on the Relief Society general advisory council since 2017. Previous callings include ward Relief Society president, ward Young Women president, stake Relief Society presidency counselor, Gospel Doctrine teacher and Primary music leader.
Sister Amy Wright, second counselor
About five years ago, Sister Amy Wright was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. The only way her family made it through the aggressive treatments, she said, was focusing on the Savior Jesus Christ.
“When it was all about me, the world became a really dark place. But when my focus turned outward, when I would strive to serve others and walk the way Christ walked, there was light and joy, even during the greatest pain and suffering.”
Sister Wright described her battle with cancer as a “polishing and refining experience” — one that was “uniquely tailored” to help her come to know the Savior in a deeply personal way. It also taught her that additional strength comes in seeking to learn and understand others’ diverse challenges.
“We all serve in different parts of the Lord’s vineyard at different times in our life. But it’s the same vineyard with the same master,” said the newly called second counselor in the Primary general presidency.
“Our hope is also the same — which is eternal life and exaltation. That’s what we desire for all of these precious little children, that the Savior will be part of their journey, and that they will return home to Him.”
Amy Eileen Wright was born in January 1972, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Joy Bailey and Robert Anderson. She married James McConkie Wright on June 24, 1994, in the Salt Lake Temple, and they have three sons.
Amy Wright: Are we prepared to receive what the Lord offers us?
Sister Wright graduated with a bachelor of science degree in human development and family studies from the University of Utah in 1998. She worked in the student media department in the College of Communication at Marquette University in Wisconsin while her husband attended dental school.
At the time of her call to the Primary general presidency, Sister Wright had been serving on the Young Women general advisory council since 2018. Previous callings include stake Primary president, ward Primary president, a counselor in a ward Primary presidency, Gospel Doctrine teacher and Cub Scout leader.
